I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate this notion of hierarchical life into panpsychism and the "global brain" hypothesis. (Disclaimer: I'm already sold on and a proponent of the theory of panpsychism.)
It seems more and more to me like this hierarchy goes all the way up (to the single superorganism that is the universe) and all the way down (to the presence or absence of fermions in particular states, inducing a duality and thus a basis of computation via the Pauli exclusion principle). If this hierarchy is consistent across all scales, then we can conclude that if consciousness exists at one level then it exists at all levels. Sentience/awareness is a different question, mind you, and "memories" are associated with awareness of past events.
I'm also starting to believe that "consciousness" in terms of directed will doesn't truly exist, and that only "experience" exists. The rest (wants, desires, opinions, will) are electrochemical reactions which respond to local changes in the environment, although we experience them as much more than that for ultimately self- (and macrosystem-)serving reasons. These electrochemical reactions are present because they have over time become more important in the processes necessary for the propagation of whatever they're supporting. This is all very vague and hand-wavy but this article on the thermodynamic theory of life might be clearer [1].
In the discussion yesterday about this topic on HN I brought up the example of ant colonies [2] in an attempt to spur discussion in this direction.
I'd suggest, if you're already receptive to these concepts, to delve into Buddhist/Zen Buddhist/Taoist literature in addition to the more cerebral (pun?!) stuff out there. They're basically saying the same thing, albeit with much different language and framing. In particular the notions of interdependence, sunyata (my personal favorite idea/concept ever), and duality(ies).
Beyond that, unfortunately most of my exposure to the ideas related to panpsychism come in fits and bursts, and usually pieces which aren't about panpsychism inspire my ponderance more. Subjects include: animal consciousness/experience; the apparent intelligence of complex systems, whether man-made or independently-arising; autonomic, pre-conscious behavior in humans; computational theory, especially in physical systems; emergence and complexity writ large; complex adaptive systems in general.
Unfortunately I haven't done a lot of seeking out books on this topic. Nautilus and Aeon magazines (the latter is linked in OP) have thought-provoking stuff which touch on these topics more often than you'd think.
