Implications of Organoids--A Simple Explanation

A couple of days ago I wrote an article about organoids getting stuck at the cellular level of development. I proposed that organoids can't "level up" to form true organs via the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule. Then, in Comments, I wondered why not? This article further explores the implications raised for the Simple Explanation by considering the implications of the claim that organoids can't level up.

This is a brain organoid. You can clearly see the toroidal nature of the clumping of brain cells. True brains do not reflect this toroidal clumping at the organ level. The Simple Explanation of these cellular clumps is that they lack the emergent brain's Unit of Consciousness that would give them an overall structure at the organ level. Lacking the young brain's Unit of Consciousness, the organoid gets stuck at the cellular level.

My brother, Bill, and I spoke many times on the phone as soon as that organoid article was published. It's exciting for us when the Simple Explanation theory refines and advances through scientific proofs. The following article was stimulated by discussions with Bill.

First, as I observed in Comments on the previous article, I would have thought that the action of reaching out to others with information, assistance, and love, i.e. the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule, would have automatically bestowed consciousness to the next level up. Yet that doesn't seem to be the case with the organoids. 

The reason why I doubt the organ-level unit of consciousness has taken up residence is that the organoid's cells do not know how to form themselves into the organ's design. For example, in the image above of a brain organoid, the cells try to reach out to others, but they only form around themselves to produce the strange looking, donut-shaped clumps of tissue you see. The image above clearly displays groups of cellular-level brain tissue that don't understand what they are supposed to do next--build a brain. 

It is an axiom of the Simple Explanation that all units of consciousness in our universe know the job they have been assigned. An atom knows how to be an atom; a brain cell knows how to be a brain cell; a dog knows how to be a dog. Therefore, if these little organoids don't know how to become organs, they must lack the organ-level governing unit of consciousness.

That finding surprised me yesterday, because when you look at the hierarchical structure of forms, you might assume it's the leveling-up action that invites a new unit of consciousness to move in and take up residence to guide and govern that aggregation.

According to the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything, while there is only one "me" (represented by the triangle), my body is comprised of 11 organ systems made of 78 organs, which are in turn comprised of 50 trillion specialized cells made up of such a large number of atoms and molecules that I don't know how to read or write the numbers. The more organized and complex the Unit of Consciousness, the fewer of them there are. My Self Unit of Consciousness sits atop this hierarchical mountain of countless Units of Consciousness, all working to instantiate my body. While I may believe I am the only conscious entity inhabiting this body of mine, my physical body is actually home to all of these aggregated units of consciousness, each with their own jobs to perform. Lucky for me, their job is to hold me together and facilitate this life of mine, and they generally go along with the program and do a good job. 

It would appear as though the governing Unit of Consciousness must be endowed from the top down, not from the bottom up. In other words, it is through the formula of the Universal Unit of Consciousness that the Self's Unit of Consciousness is installed. And, going down from the top of the hierarchy, the Self's Unit of Consciousness is the ecological system that unifies and creates the organism. So, if there is no organism to work towards, the organ-level Units of Consciousness cannot come into existence, because they lack the ecological clues of what, where, and how to do their jobs. 

This is another way of saying that consciousness is a top-down phenomenon of organization and instruction, proceeding from the higher order blueprint / algorithm downward onto the newly forming structure. We cannot force a unit of consciousness into existence by monkeying around with lower level units of consciousness; all we can manipulate is the material level and units of consciousness that already exist by way of the original pluripotent stem cells. We humans are builders, but we lack the capacity to endow consciousness. 

You would have to conclude that consciousness populates our universe via the Universal Unit of Consciousness. This is another way of saying that consciousness does not grow out of or upward from matter. If my predictions hold true about organoids not being able to progress upward to true organs by the manipulations of humans, this failure can be seen as a type of proof of God**. This remains to be seen as organoid research goes forward.

It is interesting to note that pluripotent stem cells are able to differentiate into all manner of cells except for placenta and embryo--and thank goodness that's the case! Thank goodness, because if we humans were able to create living, self-organizing creatures from scratch, we would be building orcs and orgres! Would these unconscious, "souless" creatures be an abomination? I think so. 

Which brings me to another implication of organoids--If consciousness cannot be manufactured by humans, then it is unlikely our manufactured objects can become spontaneously conscious. Think AI. We can train the computer and robot to act in an ethical way, but can we train empathy? Can we train love? Obviously no, we cannot. The consciousness of computers would remain derivative and not true.

This implication that computers are unlikely to be endowed by the Universal Unit of Consciousness with a governing Self's Unit of Consciousness actually goes against one of my previous hypotheses concerning the aggregation of complex systems of consciousness. I've been waiting for a time-traveling cyborg to visit me from the future because of a letter I wrote to it on the blog this year. It hasn't happened yet; perhaps this implication is why. The lower levels of material cannot push consciousness into existence because it is a top-down infusion, not a bottom-up demand. Complex circuits and other such complex systems will not spontaneously become conscious, due to the derivative nature of their human-designed construction.

Finally, another implication of this discussion has to do with the nature of love. The Simple Explanation suggests that the most essential characteristic of Consciousness is love. If consciousness is endowed from the top down, then love is a top-down phenomenon, too. Love does not arise spontaneously through the Golden Rule of reaching out to others. While it is possible to build objects and alliances in a simulation of the Golden Rule, the aggregation will not be conscious or infused with love at the higher level. This observation furthers our understanding of romantic versus agape love. As a recent article points out, romantic love arises from the organ level, while agape love arises from the Universal Unit of Consciousness. This explains why romantic love only lasts so long. It must be replaced by the never-ending wellspring of love supplied by the Universal Unit of Consciousness.

**For you atheists, the Simple Explanation calls this overarching consciousness the "Universal Unit of Consciousness" rather than "God." The Simple Explanation also refers to the perfected algorithm of our universe as a formula, whereas religious folks like to call that "God's Will."

In the hierarchy above, fewer and fewer instances of each type of UC appear as their scope of responsibility becomes broader and broader. This follows the principle of "the higher the fewer." Eventually, all units of consciousness in this universe combine to rejoin the Universal Unit of Conciousness from whence they came.

That which we think of as "God" in our Universal hierarchy is limited by our need to think in terms of meme constructs. That which we conceive of as "God" is less than what God would have to be, since an entity as complex as God or the Universal Unit of Consciousness is necessarily greater than our ability define it.
It is the need to transcend all memes, and especially our limited "God" meme, that gives rise to mystical routes to God realization. Our minds think in terms of memes; our unburdened governing Self's Unit of Consciousness does not. Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, and mystical Christianity are among the spiritual traditions that attempt to "know God" through quieting the mind and laying down preconceived memes, be they social, religious, or scientific, thus freeing us up for a direct experience of blissful reunion with that which is greater than reason can grasp.

If you have read this entire article and understand it, please write to me at cyd.ropp@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

A Simple Explanation's Scientific Prediction Regarding Organoids

Scientists are now able to harvest pluripotent stem cells from aborted fetuses and prod them to grow into tiny little fake organs called "organoids." 

A pluripotent stem cell is also called an embryonic stem cell. These cells are the basic building blocks of the body's many organs, reproducing themselves "in vivo" (meaning in a live body) into whatever the body needs by way of cells for organ development.

When scientists attempt to reproduce organs from these pluripotent stem cells, they generally hit a developmental wall within the organoids they've built. The little organoids can only develop so far before they die. The organoids typically die because there is no way to feed the interior cells once they get thicker than one or a few layers. Plus, the darned cells keep forming themselves into cell-shaped toruses rather than shaping themselves into organs. Whereas normal tissue is fed nutrients via blood vessels, the scientists have been unable to coax blood vessels to grow into the organoids' toroidal interiors and so they starve once they get so thick.

Here is the problem as I see it, and this makes yet another Simple Explanation hypothesis that can be tested and proved. According to the Simple Explanation, every cell has an informational torus associated with it. The pluripotent stem cells have all of the cellular information needed to differentiate themselves into every type and quantity needed for the developing fetus.

Scientists have become very clever at isolating and coaxing stem cells to grow in special mediums and on top of special scaffolding. Through manipulations of the stem cells, they are able to coax a cluster of cells to grow into whatever little organoid they wish to study. I keep saying "little" because they only grow so big before they starve to death. But in that short period of life, the organoids are able to become the type of cell desired and to perform as a cell of that age and type would perform. Little heart organoids beat. Little brain organoids do what little baby brains would at a few days of age. Little skin organoids link up around themselves and try to become skin. 

Here is my observation and prediction: The organoids can only develop at the cellular level and never become true organs that could be used, for example, in organ transplants. Why? Because the organ-level Unit of Consciousness cannot attach to the bunch of cells unless those cells reach out to each other to "level up" using the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule. 

According to the Simple Explanation, at each level of rising sophistication, a Unit of Consciousness arises to guide and govern that level. Without that next level up's informational Unit of Consciousness, the cellular units can never organize themselves into the coordinated function and growth that give rise to true organs.  

In other words, while you can grow a brain organoid, it's only going to become a group of cellular-level Units of Consciousness--it will not foster an organ-level Unit of Consciousness. 

This is a brain organoid. You can clearly see the toroidal nature of the clumping of brain cells. True brains do not reflect this toroidal clumping at the organ level. The Simple Explanation of these cellular clumps is that they lack the emergent brain's Unit of Consciousness that would give them an overall structure at the organ level. Lacking the young brain's Unit of Consciousness, the organoid gets stuck at the cellular level.

I'm glad the organoids can't attach an organ-level Unit of Consciousness to their poor little cells. Imagine the hellish existence of coming to human consciousness in a petri dish or jar! Yikes.