They do not act alone. They have two chemical signals they can
send and receive; "You are a form of life" - a generic signal
sent by all of them, no matter what kind.
And a more specific signal that says, "You are of my kind."
And within the cacophany of bacterial social communication, they
can figure out the strength of their numbers. They do not act
until they reach a particular number of their own kind. Then
they ACT!
But until they reach a particular number of "This is me", they
don't act. They just wait. And count.
There's no reason to believe that Bacteria aren't conscious.
Even with all the complexity we like to give to the human brain,
the fact that even the smallest of creatures - even ones that
aren't even in the SAME ANIMAL KINGDOM, have a knowledge of
"These are all me" and "Those are all not me"...
Shows how DEEP the "us, not us" / "me, not me" is in ALL LIFE.
What does that mean?
1) You are not alone.
2) You were never alone.
3) You are social from the time you are born until the time you
die.
4) You seek out your own kind, whether they be real, imaginary,
fictional, alive, dead, human, non-human, symbolic, or tangible.
5) You know when someone is "not" of your kind.
This is my opinion but it makes sense to me and I believed the
source that inspired it.^
