the consciousness problem

distributive computing works for ants
of whom none bears the cost of a big brain
from individuals as dumb as plants
emergent traits are dev'lish to explain
just as each neuron is determinate
as surely as a gate for 'and' or 'or'
it's only testing them in aggregate
that we're confronted with something that's more
just what's a "mind" and what's it mean to "know"
persists as a conundrum of our age
epistemologists push to and fro
but can't agree on what defines a sage
"what's consciousness?" consumed sir Francis Crick
to build a mind from neurons' a neat trick