Keep pulling the thread on Kevin Mitchell.
A central property of living things is agency, the ability to actively do things, which distinguishes them from inanimate objects like rocks or electrons.
Evolution resulted in living organisms that have a goal, which is to persist.
The future is not predetermined by low-level physics and is genuinely open.
The higher-level meaning of neural activity patterns, rather than the low-level details of individual neuron firings, is what holds causal power in the brain.
The evolution of metacognition (thinking about thoughts) in humans provides a level of conscious, rational control over behavior that is unique in the biological world.
According to the theory of "Cognitive Realism," cognition is not an epiphenomenon; the firing of neurons has causal power in a system only because of what those patterns mean.
Consciousness is a biological process generated by the interaction of the brain, body, and world.
Many neuroscientists and philosophers have concluded that free will, the ability to make independent choices, is an illusion.
Variations in human behaviors and personalities are largely due to differences in how their brains develop.
The invention of the cell membrane was a key evolutionary step that created an entity causally insulated from the external world, establishing an inside and an outside.
All living cells generate internal energy stores by using a proton (hydrogen ion) gradient to power a protein that functions like a hydroelectric dam.
Even primitive organisms like single-cell bacteria can be considered to have a minimal form of agency.