The biology of consciousness from the bottom up

This essay aims to outline a scientific approach to the investigation of consciousness emphasizing achievements and promise of hardcore bottom-up biology. We propose to contemplate what would be the minimal requirements of consciousness in the simplest of life forms. We show that, starting from the molecular nuts and bolts of such life forms, it is the extreme multitudinousness of the moving material components forming consciousness, and their organized swarming, that appears outstanding. This is in stark contrast with the impression obtained from introspection that consciousness is a single, unconstrained, immaterial stream.