Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” — John 11:21–27 ESV

The organism that you describe as you is, in itself, an ecology of organisms. In addition to the roughly 40 trillion or so cooperating cells that you like to think of as yourself, there are just as many microbes that live on you and inside you that call you home. Altogether, those 80 trillion cells go along for the conjoined ride called life and, literally, none of them are aware of the thing you describe as consciousness. Continue reading →