What a wonderful question and thoughtful response, Alex. I actually think the answer is “both and.” Yes, we are survival machines being operated by the genes and bacteria, the flora and fauna of our bodies. This ties us to the fabric of the universe and grounds us in reality and mortality. But this very intense activity of survival also provides us with a machine for thought, introspection, and empathy. The “I” in this machine if mine is not the bacteria that make my guts work, but the thoughts that give me feelings in my gut. This “I” comes from the spaces between the machine, the leaps of energy across it, the dynamics of my parts meeting your parts.

I am often puzzled by our attempts to define ourselves as more than animal. We are not like apes, we are apes. We and apes share far more than apes and any other species. And just as we are animals, I am certain that animals experience the spaces between their parts in ways similar to us. What is so strange about imagining that an ape, dolphin, whale, or ant has some experience of consciousness, of connection to the world around them that reaches beyond the mechanics of their actions? All the evidence for this is in our own head, the spaces between the parts help create an I and you, even in other species.

Which leads me to “us.” Just as the mechanics of “I” do not fully explain the magic of my existence and awareness, so the community of “us” does not fully explain the power of “we” working together. I believe there is something we create in the spaces between us that is just as mysterious and powerful as the consciousness I experience in my head. Sometimes I name this “spirit,” sometimes “God,” and most of the time I don’t name it at all. But I am convinced it is there.