Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article yrOgc.45$oI2.0@newsfe1-win,
"Andy Hunt" writes:
| So how do plants know which way is 'up', then, when they are germinating in
| the dark . . . ? Does this not imply some sort of perceptive and
| decision-making capability, albeit on a fairly mundane level?
No. How does water know which way is down when it is running down a
slope? How does a compass know to point north?



No. It slightly goes against the grain to recommend anything by
Richard Dawkins (he is widely regarded as a pain in the a*** by
other scientists)
Not by any scientists I know. I don't know many zoologists and
biologists though, so maybe in his own area he not so well thought off.
Is there a reason for this, has he upset them in some way or is it just
because he's famous?

, but his books do explain how this for of thing
develops without consciousness.
They do indeed.

Roger Penrose also wrote a couple of excellent book on conciousness
called "Shadows of the Mind" and "The Emperor's New Mind".