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Full Idea
There is the possibility that particles have senses like those of an animate being as a whole, …but from the fact that we perceive eggs turning into live fledglings, we may infer that sense can be generated from the insentient.
Gist of Idea
Particles may have sensation, but eggs turning into chicks suggests otherwise
Source
Lucretius (On the Nature of the Universe [c.60 BCE], II.914)
Book Ref
Lucretius: 'On the Nature of the Universe', ed/tr. Latham,Ronald [Penguin 1951], p.87
A Reaction
He gives other arguments for his view. The egg example is not a strong argument, but is precisely our puzzle of how consciousness can emerge from the process of evolution, and natural selection makes dualism look unlikely.