Making Decisions Without a Brain

The video explores decision-making in organisms, focusing on protists like Stentor and Paramecium. It discusses Jennings' early 20th-century experiments on protists' responses to stimuli, such as light and irritants, and the hierarchy of responses they exhibit. The video highlights the complexity of even single-celled organisms' decision-making processes and the challenges in replicating Jennings' findings. It concludes with the implications of these studies for understanding the microcosmos.

What is highlighted as a complex process in both humans and single-celled organisms?

• Breathing

• Decision-making

• Sleeping

• Eating

Who conducted early experiments on protists' behavior?

• Albert Einstein

• Isaac Newton

• Herbert Spencer Jennings

• Charles Darwin

What irritant did Jennings use in his experiments with Stentor?

• Sugar

• Carmen dye

• Vinegar

• Salt

Why might some protists avoid light?

• To find food

• To avoid predators

• To reproduce

• To sleep

What is a notable trait of Stentor coeruleus?

• Magnetic sensitivity

• Photosensitivity

• Sound sensitivity

• Heat sensitivity

What did Jennings observe about Stentor's response hierarchy?

• They have a ranked preference of responses

• They respond randomly

• They only have one response

• They do not respond to stimuli

What was a challenge faced in replicating Jennings' experiments?

• Lack of funding

• Untrained scientists

• Different species used

• No available equipment

What did Jeremy Gunawardena discover about Stentor species?

• They have different ranked preferences

• They are extinct

• They are all identical

• They do not react to stimuli

What is emphasized about decision-making in simple organisms?

• It is straightforward

• It is complex

• It is well understood

• It is unnecessary

What is remarkable about the microcosmos according to the video?

• It is unchanging

• It is very predictable

• There are many ways to do anything

• There is only one way to do things