Nodes, Minds And Aspects II

See Nodes, Minds And Aspects.

Each of us experiences dialogue with others and can also experience:

"...the dialogue of a mind with itself..." (p. 103)

One of Anderson's powerful inorganic minds had a literal internal dialogue because it:

"...raised aspects of itself to interact like persons until it drew them back into its wholeness..." (ibid.)

The universe does that with us except that it, the universe, is not conscious either before or after the existence of its "aspects," individual organisms, whereas Anderson's inorganic minds are.

Again:

"...a node was not a single mind. It was as many as it chose to be..." (p. 102)

These minds are projected into bodies that gather experiences for as long as necessary before re-merging with the node. Because inorganic intelligences retain their individuality, they are called nodes, not cells, of the galactic brain.