Are stars conscious?

Is there any scientific evidence to support the opinion of Olaf Stapledon, a British science-fiction author and philosopher from the 1930’s, that the entire universe is in some sense conscious, and a portion of stellar motion is volitional? Could stars be conscious?

This question is explored in the article “Stellar Consciousness: Can Panpsychism Emerge as an Observational Science?” published in Edge Science, Number 29. In the article the author looks beyond the theory that consciousness is a product of developed neural networks, and instead entertains the idea that some stars may have a universal proto-consciousness field that interacts with matter, and that this stellar volition actually contributes to stellar motion.

Now let’s be clear about this. I have absolutely no idea about the underlying theories and philosophies engaged in this intellectual exploration. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t love (we could capitalise that word for emphasis, but ‘we’ won’t), I mean really, really love the fact that the consciousness that we do have, leads itself in some people, to ask questions that go beyond what can be proved. And let’s face it, Einstein revolutionised science with thought experiments as far back as 1905, that posited ideas such as  gravitational waves, which weren’t confirmed by observation until 2015.

The nature of consciousness is one of many fascinations for me, in particular when considered alongside the insistence of many that consciousness can be defined, contained, and in some cases explained away.