Paul,

“ in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”

What I find interesting is the degree to which science sees everything, from atoms, to quanta, to strings, to nerve cells and molecules in terms of nouns and verbs.

Objects and what they do. Yet isn’t any such construct a node in a network, with all the resulting feedback loops constantly re-arranging both sides?

It’s like Margret Thatcher saying there is no society, just individuals interacting.

As I’ve tried pointing out, the most basic dichotomy I sense is between energy and form and that’s several levels beyond nodes and networks, which is levels above nouns and verbs.

I think it’s the hands. Our thought process evolved from being able to handle objects like rocks and sticks and it’s just stuck in our primal memory.

Littler things, all the way down.