Sentience

[theapportioner]

I used to think a bit like you, but one need not use the determinism based on fundamental laws of physics to describe human activity. Indeed I would say it would tells you nearly nothing. Hence, while the traditional Christian formulation of free will would be nixed if you take the universe to be determined, the experiences of will and consciousness are fully compatible with it.

An adult human being is different from a morula in more ways than just sentience. Another one: organization. The human body is an amazing interaction of trillions of cells in a dynamic environment. Just as one neuron does not make a brain -- indeed brain functions only occur as a result of interactions between neurons, one embryonic stem cell does not make a human. But these discussions are more a matter of taste than of science. You can use science as a guide, but that's it.