Of the many neural processes what we call our conscious mind is the part that deals with refueling, reproduction and cleaning toilets. We are also familiar with the amazing powers of the subconscious and with diseases of the mind that seem to tap into unimaginable potential. Potential many times bigger than the dishwasher.
Furthermore, if we don't obey orders handed down to us like hunger, sleep or sex drive our mind will torture us.
We love to pretend the construction worker is in charge of the bank (a weird idea in it self) but if he doesn't do exactly what he is instructed to do his job will be given to other neurons.
It is also known that the "subconscious" mind can access information without the "conscious" mind being aware of it. Just looking at another person or life form triggers a variety of feelings which means there is influence. (see: The mind has no firewall)
What we call culture very clearly has a mind of it's own, lone highly "conscious" individuals might have some influence, their power is rather neglectable. The distributed subconscious mind is totally in control guys! We can go back to bed now.
Toxoplasmosis altering personalities combined with morphogenetic fields would allow for distributed sentient entities. Better known as spirits or dæmons.
The higher mind had always allowed us to believe in a kind of evil spirit construct. Of course within the scope of our very limited understanding.
On the other hand, when your materialistic vacuum cleaning mind is confronted with such obvious truths it is immediately instructed to forget all about it.
In anger you wave your fist at the screen then light one of those cigarettes. You smoke because you like it so much, just keep telling yourself that, it was all your idea.
Furthermore, and here it gets really idiotic. Have you ever observed the level of fascination a pot smoker has with hemp plants? The plant invades the entire body, alters the mind and it even kills intruders. In contrast with the parasite and the tobacco the system user has no intention to destroy the hardware.
Of course there is no need to physically invade the human at all. The system is perfectly accessible via just about every sensory input port.
Look at you mowing your lawn, a clearly senseless activity, there is no benefit for the human. Any competitive weed however aggressive has no chance to survive after the borg cube sized mower has done it's job.
Back when we had cattle it was logical to interact with the lawn in such a way, today we have laws that enforce the hijacking of our bodies. Surely you think you mow your lawn because you like it so much but just because it doesn't harm you doesn't mean it makes any sense.
So above, so below! If we are controlled by external entities other than the self we thought was in charge we should be able to see our attempts to create a loving and caring society thwarted by this obstruction. The whole theory would depend on it!
Morphogenic data transfer between cells regardless of distance and function is very likely to use some lossy data compression aka random signal loss or noise.
The neurons firing off electrical signals mostly belong to the mechanical part of the human for which we require a lossless format. There is some margine for error but anything above X would quickly result in injury or death.
By ignoring the telepathy we can end up looking at neural networks without even a vague understanding of any of the sentience.
The possibility for injury and the amount of computation we require also makes it desirable to have all those neurons powering those limbs located in a central location.
More important than logic and motion is the synchronicity of the system. This is mainly because we move around, plants don't move around as much so they have their brain spread over the tips of their roots.
For plants this would also mean that between the far most corners of the brain there are other sentient beings that may interact with the signals. Just go sit under a tree and think about this, no concept of Buddhism required, and it should only take a minute.
As mentioned above Just the toxoplasmosis parasite already shows that other life forms enclosed in the life form isn't something restricted to plants. 10 times more bacterial cells than "human" cells. 99% of the genetic material that makes up the human is bacterial.
They use a democratic electory system by using the robust chemical format.
Not a few easily outlined systems of data communication but we use every possible type of input to communicate data between every possible "species". Just a bit of eye contact may change your entire life. Don't ask anyone to explain what they see in their partner. All we need to know is that it works, you'd be ironing shirts shortly after and changing diapers not much later.
The Brest feeding upload might be more important than learning to read and write. Simple touch introduces all sorts of skin critters to the infant. Transfer of data, tools and the means to use them. Like a domed city or a cruise ship would take in it's passengers.
The idea we would be the only intelligent process, the only sentient being or even in charge of the system is completely dinosauric.
You are obviously confused now whether to go back to worshiping god or to scream crackpot and pseudoscience. But....
If I am you, and you are me, we have no time for modesty!
REFERENCES
Bonnie Bassler discovered that bacteria "talk" to each other, using a chemical language that lets them coordinate defense and mount attacks. The find has stunning implications for medicine, industry -- and our understanding of ourselves.
Mirror neurons - Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as we know it.
The Mind Has No Firewall - TIMOTHY L. THOMAS - From Parameters, Spring 1998, pp. 84-92. - "It is completely clear that the state which is first to create such weapons will achieve incomparable superiority." -- Major I. Chernishev, Russian army[1] - The human body, much like a computer, contains myriad data processors. They include, but are not limited to, the chemical-electrical activity of the brain, heart, and peripheral nervous system, the signals sent from the cortex region of the brain to other parts of our body, the tiny hair cells in the inner ear that process auditory signals, and the light-sensitive retina and cornea of the eye that process visual activity.[2] We are on the threshold of an era in which these data processors of the human body may be manipulated or debilitated. Examples of unplanned attacks on the body's data-processing capability are well-documented. Strobe lights have been known to cause epileptic seizures.
Plants behave in some oddly intelligent ways: fighting predators, maximizing food opportunities ... But can we think of them as actually having a form of intelligence of their own? Italian botanist Stefano Mancuso presents intriguing evidence.