[cipherzero]

Does their brain consciously drive the control of their cell pigment/color ability, or is it something more subconscious/reactive/instinctive? Seems like the brain has to be involved to coordinate...

I wonder what the closest thing like that would be for humans? Would it be akin to me thinking “i want to be more tan” and somehow my cells get the signal to be more tan?

Obviously we will likely never know, but there is some leap here I wish we understood better. (Or do we and I’m just unaware?)

Edit: thinking about it more... i don’t know what happens when i think to “make a fist” and yet it happens, so maybe it is something more at that level...

[emteycz]

I think more like moving your body. You can do it when you want to, you can do it on autopilot with varying degrees and axes of control, or do it while asleep. You don't need to subvocalize it, you think more about the result, next intentions, etc.

[cipherzero]

Thanks! That does make sense, and it’s entirely fascinating to think about!

Does anyone know what this area of study is called?

[hadlock]

Look into cognition vs consciousness.

A baby can feed themselves holding a spoon, but they lack object permanence (the ball went behind the couch, it's vanished from this universe forever), and certainly aren't aware of stuff like their own mortality, their favorite color, or if they even should have a favorite color, etc

Child development is a lot more studied than I thought it was, and opens a lot of doors to exploring the answers to some of these questions.