John Doyle has the position that somehow we got…

Page 219 keyword consciousness. John Doyle has the position that somehow we got used to the idea that when a system appears to exhibit coherent, integrated function and behavior, there must be some essential and, importantly, Central or centralized controlling element that is responsible. We are deeply essentialist, and our left brain will find it. And as you point out, we'll make up something if we can't find it. We call it a homunculus, mind, soul, Jean etc. But it is rarely there in the usual reductionist sense. That doesn't mean there isn't in fact some essence that is responsible, it's just distributed. It's in the protocols, the rules, the algorithms, the software. It's how cells and internets and armies and brains really work. It's difficult for us because it doesn't reside in some box somewhere, indeed it would be a design flow if it did because that box would be a single point to failure. It's, in fact, important that it not be in the modules but in the rules that they must obey.

— from Takeoff Into Chaos · Who's in charge? By Michael gazaniga

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