Could someone point me towards a clear definition of consciousness as it is being applied to quarks? Subjectivity seems to imply that there is something that it feels like to be a quark, or a rock, or a cup of coffee. Is there any evidence for this view of consciousness?
I fully accept the idea of Earth as a deeply interconnected system of ecological components, which create a whole vastly more than the sum of its parts. How does making this system self-aware add to the explanatory power or value of this system-based understanding? From where I sit, it seems only to distract people from the important task of understanding our role in the system and how to alter it before the system itself alters enough that our ability to survive in it begins to decline.
