Many people think insects probably cannot be conscious because all insect behaviour can be predicted by a computer programme.
Despite insects’ ability to learn from past experience, and despite the social complexity of some insects, which rivals that of most human societies, it is true that, according to our most advanced knowledge, all insect behaviour can be simulated by a computer programme.
However, this does not mean insects lack consciousness. After all, it is also possible in principle to simulate all human behaviour with a computer algorithm. The algorithm for human behaviour would be much more complex than one for insect behaviour. The fact that the computer needed to run such a complex programme is beyond our current technological capabilities does not mean that it is impossible in principle.
In particular, this conclusion follows logically for atheists who believe human consciousness is entirely the result of complex electrochemical reactions in the brain—in other words, people who believe humans do not have souls.
Since the behaviour of atoms and molecules is governed by known laws of physics, the behaviour of any physical system made up of atoms and molecules can, in principle, be simulated by a computer programme. If human beings are simply physical systems made of atoms and molecules, then all our behaviour could also, in principle, be simulated by a computer programme.
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