Agreed, Amos, it's a complex line of reasoning based on an initially false assumption. I can readily see how Gerald Edelman could have formulated such a theory. It fits right in with a certain scientific viewpoint, which regards the inert physical universe as somehow being the original source of all conscious life. But they cannot suggest how that happened in any meaningful way...they have to say, "Well, it just happened." Uh-huh. :-) Sounds like a fairy story to me.