Is a nervous system required for intelligence? consciousness?
Historical biophysics thread asking whether slime mold learning means intelligence can exist without a nervous system.
It seems that some single-celled slime can actually learn. The plasmodium of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum is a large amoeba-like cell consisting of a dendritic network of tube-like structures. It changes shape as it crawls over agar gel and, if food is placed at two different points, it will put out pseudopodia that connect the two food sources. Some studies show that this simple organism has the ability to find the minimum-length solution between two points in a labyrinth. Maybe a brain isn't needed for learning.
Archived source: https://web.archive.org/web/20170322122859/http://www.spacetimeandtheuniverse.com/biophysics/8245-nervous-system-required-intelligence-consciousness.html
Replies
Neverfly
Agreed, otherwise the earliest forms of life on Earth would have had a serious problem. In fact, the cells we have in our own bodies learn chemically and through proteins. Consider how DNA presents the same appearance of learning by its very chemical structure adapting over generations.