Grab - Okay...

All the particles in my body are intelligent, all right, but they are engaged in a cooperative venture (forming my body and maintaining it), just as the many tiny organisms that make up a Portuguese Man-O-War jellyfish are engaged in a cooperative venture. That's why they don't change their minds and take off. (Some actually do "take off", but not so many that it's a real problem, and others are constantly joining the venture.)

Above and beyond all that is a higher intelligence that pondered forming that cooperative venture in the first place, and then called together many little bundles of intelligence in order to do it.

On a physical level it all began with just a few cells, but the higher intelligence kept adding to that a bit at a time and built a growing body.

Such is the case with all living things.

If and when the higher intelligence decides it doesn't really want to be here anymore...or the conditions have changed and it's not viable to be here anymore (like you just got run over by a truck, for instance)...then the cooperative deal is terminated, and the many little cells do start to disassociate and disperse, and find themselves new roles in creation. We call that death and decay...breaking down of substance.

The higher intelligence goes on to the next project without a "dent in the fender".

That answers part of what you asked about, but not all. Later for the rest...

Someone oughta do the "blue clicky" thing and we can ramble on about this almost forever, I suspect.

- LH