Living cells have an intrinistic sensitivity to their environment that is essential to survival

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References:

Bray, Wetware (2009), p. 142

My argument is that living cells have an intrinsic sensitivity to their environment-a reflexivity, a capacity to detect and record salient features of their surroundings that is essential for their survival. I believe these features to be deeply woven into the molecular fabric of living cells. A primitive awareness of the environment was an essential ingredient in the origins of life: it was preserved and expanded Increasingly elaborate and prolific forms in the subsequent explosion of living organisms during evolution. This intrinsic capacity has been amplified and ramified in a thousand different ways. It is the molecular substrate of our knowledge of the world, including our sense of self — the seed corn of consciousness.

This does not mean, I should emphasize, that they are the same thing. I do not believe that amoebae possess sentience any more than they possess legs or lungs. Consciousness in particular may well be a comparatively recent invention, appearing in some advanced animal by a rare conjunction of features, essentially sui generis, without significant precursor. Human language is one attribute that could fit this description, since despite impressive performances by chimpanzees, dogs, and parrots in word recognition, no other animal can communicate as we do. It would be futile to look for a primitive language center in the nervous system of a fruitfly or a nematode. But I nevertheless expect to find in these animals knowledge of the world and their place in it.