I’m sure there’s a way to settle this…
… heads or tails?
Depends on the tail.
If Begbert2 doesn’t mind my answering my own question… As 'dopers are in general agreement, life originated from self-replicating chemical elements, nucleopeptides or something (I made those up for brevity). Eventually their complexity increased; or their ability to reproduce increased. Bacteria number in unnameable numbers, but individually are only so cool. Humans reproduce with enough felicity, but compared individually to a bacterium they are almost infinitely more complex. Humans seem to compare (or maybe it is just a case of auto-species vanity) favorably to all other creatures on Earth. No?
But how are they self-aware? Well, I suppose a thing could be alive yet not self-aware. A slime mold probably doesn’t know what it is or that it is even there, yet it performs all the other functions of life. I’m thinking that the state of being alive is a sort of biological circuit. The whole system runs smoothly enough on its own carnal caloric input that… the biological circuit runs smoothly enough.
In a being such as a human, there exists a highly integrated sensory apparatus. Biological functions are organized and integrated. There just happens to be ample enough brainspace and neural networking to effect the emergent property of a ‘will’, or a self-aware agent. Hard to pin down, even for all this.
But it boils down to a lot of neural self-reference, and a stable biological circuit. You want a cite I suppose- how about ch. 11 from the Tao Te Ching:
That is not a scientific text you say? Ok. And, it would be easy to map this out mathematically, then point at it and laugh because it was just so much nonsense on a page. As abstraction it is vulnerable to these tactics. But when expressed in a bona fide biological circuit, the identity is a veridical, physical, self-aware agent. A being.
But if life-forms would improve themselves from self-replicating chemicals to independent cells to self-aware organisms, is there a pattern and an end? Biologically I suppose it would be toward ever more stable, and also ever more complex, biological circuitry. Taking over a planet is a pretty good biological strategy for complex organisms, for the human species example.
But if the being can be conceived abstractly, then its ends can also be conceived abstractly. The most stable abstract circuit would integrate everything, at which point it would be inviolable; eternal. All as One.
But… Begbert2, it’s just a brainstorm. I’m not sure I am serious about each point.
ETA: your camera is just a product.
I’m aware of that – I’m just being sarcastic, for the most part. 
My brother is greatly improved. I wish to thank all those who wished him and I well, I appreciate your wishes. Thanks.
Thanks for your post. It is thought provoking at its best.
I am told self-awareness is a starting point. All things are created from consciousness and are self-aware.
Including pencils?
Yes, including pencils.
The basic particle of existence is a consciousness unit, called CU, it is thousands of times smaller than any particle discovered by man. It has the characteristics of self-awareness and intense curiosity. That is how it was explained to me.
I am curious. What led you to believe this when it was told to you?
More importantly, who explained it to you?
I considered the source reliable.
I just looked it up, and the reason he won’t tell you where it’s from is because it is from Jane Robert’s “Seth” con job. Link.
Yes, and there also. I know from experience that spiritual things are not easy to put into physical words. I consider this the best format to use for understanding in the physical.
Seth’s books are large and many, they will be of great help in the years to come when more and more people wish to know about these things. However, knowing about these things does not necessarily improve your life in the physical. Which is another story.
There is no “also”. From what other source did you get that term?
From my spiritual friends. I ask them about many things. Why would you consider Seth the only source of anything
So, millions of times larger than the amount of evidence you’ve provided, then.
There is a lot of consciousness walking around these days. I can see it.
I believe the idea was referenced in God’s Debris, the textbook on the nature of the universe, by Scott Adams.
Seriously, though, it’s an excellent read.
You see it too?
By “spiritual friends”, do you mean human friends that are spiritual, or friends from the spirit realm?
Sorry for the belated quibble and minor hijack but as a statistician who works in the cancer arena this always bugs me. People tend to throw around claims that like this as proof that a miracle happened or that the doctors were totally wrong and their cancer was cured by the herbal supplement. What they fail to recognize is that this diagnosis isn’t a set drop dead date but rather is the estimated median survival of patients in your situation. ie 50% of patients in your situation died within 4 months with 50% living longer than 4 months. It tells you very little about individual cases. And it is possible that some cases (although less than 50%) may actually be cured.
Basically your doctor is giving his best guess, and recognizes he may be wrong. In the same way if in a particular game the Washington Nationals beat the Yankees in spite of what the bookies say is the likely outcome, it doesn’t mean that the bookies were incompetent for making that prediction, or that there was divine intervention that let the Yankees win. The Nationals were just lucky.