Yeah that's not far from the other idea I'm entertaining, lol. Not necessarily that each cell is conscious or intelligent, but that there are creative mechanisms at play that we don't perceive. Ones that guide or 'program' evolution of DNA constructively rather than randomly.
To your point, the idea of a monolithic 'I' that represents the ~50 trillion cells in my body is kind of ridiculous, particularly when roughly half of them don't even share my DNA. In that same vein, it has always weirded me out that we don't intuitively know how our bodies work...to the point that I even began thinking of the human consciousness as kind of virus that infected the germ line of primates with this extra meat in the noggin that intercepts the senses and controls the body.
Anyway I just need to learn more about all of this stuff before I put any real stock into my harebrained ideas.
I think every cell (and every bacteria) has this capacity, but higher intelligence can be disabled by some molecular switch (other senses cannot be disabled, they are the property of life) . The one that carries the illusion of human "I" is not particularly "advanced", but again, it's just a matter of some extra axon or something :). I'm pretty sure humans were designed by bacteria (or their descendants), but our species plays very modest role in the overall scheme of things. We are certainly not the ones calling the shots :)
You can start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBGt5OeAQFk
To your point, the idea of a monolithic 'I' that represents the ~50 trillion cells in my body is kind of ridiculous, particularly when roughly half of them don't even share my DNA. In that same vein, it has always weirded me out that we don't intuitively know how our bodies work...to the point that I even began thinking of the human consciousness as kind of virus that infected the germ line of primates with this extra meat in the noggin that intercepts the senses and controls the body.
Anyway I just need to learn more about all of this stuff before I put any real stock into my harebrained ideas.