The “blob” seems to do fine without it:
Polycephalum’s type of organism is thought to have existed for roughly a billion years though it has only been studied intensively in recent decades. It is technically called a “protist” (a catch-all category for life forms that are hard to classify). It makes decisions with no apparent source of intelligence:
“Many of the processes we might consider fundamental features of the brain, such as sensory integration, decision-making and now, learning, have all been displayed in these non-neural organisms.” – Romain P. Boisseau, David Vogel and Audrey Dussutour, “Habituation in Non-neural Organisms: Evidence from Slime Moulds” at Proceedings of the Royal Society b
Apparent brain functions without a brain are not unprecedented…
In addition to the many puzzles we face in understanding the relationship between the immaterial human mind and the material human brain, we are discovering some life forms that can manage “sensory integration, decision-making and now, learning” without a physical brain.
News, “Is a brain really needed for thinking?” at Mind Matters News
See also: Does intelligence depend on a specific type of brain?
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