Prominent Scientists Sign Declaration that Animals have Conscious Awareness

An international group of prominent scientists has signed The Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness in which they are proclaiming their support for the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are — a list of animals that includes all mammals, birds, and even the octopus.

ieet.org...

To me is seems common sense that other creatures share our Conscious Awareness. It seems that science is beginning to catch up with the idea that our distant cousins are not so different after all. Recently India passed a law declaring dolphins not human persons. Small steps in the right direction.

I think we humans will never attain a level of peace until we stop warring on the species that we share the same home with.

Neat.

Maybe we can invade the sea to give the Octopii Nation the gift of democracy. >.<

This has always seemed really obvious to me even when I was tiny. It's nice to see its recognized, but not sure it will make any large difference to anything.

Difficult to prove.
Impossible actually.
It is entirely possible that I am the only conscious being in existence and that everything else is just a construct in that consciousness.

If I signed a declaration that animals have consciousness, nobody would even give it any thought. Even this predominant scientists knowledge will probably be discarded by most people so I do not feel that bad. Animals have always had consciousness, that is why we should treat our food humanely while they are alive. Plants have consciousness too, just because we do not understand this does not mean it is real. If we take a life so that we might have food, we should thank the animals or the plants spirit. We should also thank mother earth for allowing us to live. God to me is the communication, the language that all living things share throughout the universe. I can hear god now and understand what I am being told. It is a far different interpretation than most people believe today but to me it is the only reasonable definition of god. God is the word that is not spoken.

reply to post by butcherguy

It is entirely possible that I am the only conscious being in existence and that everything else is just a construct in that consciousness.

Good thing you're not in charge.


To the thread. Life is sentient? OMG... who would've thunk it?

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by butcherguy

 

It is entirely possible that I am the only conscious being in existence and that everything else is just a construct in that consciousness.

Good thing you're not in charge.

To the thread. Life is sentient? OMG... who would've thunk it?

I am not knocking you here, just thinking. I starred your post!
It is the essence of the sociopath, so you are correct that it is a good thing that such a person isn't in charge.

Me personally, I don't think that you have much to worry about, as my life so far as lived does not indicate that I am a sociopath.

However... the thread indicates that any meat eaters may have sociopathic tendencies.
Do you eat meat?

Thanks for sharing.
It would seem we do all share Consciousness~

LOVE

I'm not warring with animals.. I eat them.. I don't care what scientists does not like it..

They can screw off.. Where's the beef?

It's about damn time.

We all are blinded by ego.

S&F OP.

~Namaste

Originally posted by intrptr
reply to post by butcherguy

 

It is entirely possible that I am the only conscious being in existence and that everything else is just a construct in that consciousness.

Good thing you're not in charge.

To the thread. Life is sentient? OMG... who would've thunk it?

Butcherguy is 100 percent correct: we can't PROVE that another human being is conscious and self-aware. The upshot of this is how much more impossible is it to either prove or disprove a specific animal is self-aware?

IMHO, higher order problem solving animals are definitely self-aware.

Originally posted by purplemer
I think we humans will never attain a level of peace until we stop warring on the species that we share the same home with.

So yesterday I completely freaked out on my cat because I caught her in the backyard with a cardinal in her mouth. I was so mad at her for doing that when she gets to enjoy all the free food and other perks of domestication - it just seemed plain selfish to then go out and hunt other completely innocent animals.

But of course I had to calm down after about 3 seconds and recognize how absurd it was getting mad at something for doing exactly what it is programmed by nature to do.

Really it's like I was being mad at her for not having human capabilities to act outside of instinct alone, and instead take the time to process moral concepts of right versus wrong.


To me that's what ultimately defines us as consciously aware. It's not something that can be easily quantified, and there's no strict definition. But all things in nature (including ourselves) are inherently programmed by nature to be the way they are. Nature is constantly warring with itself, consuming itself - that's perfectly "natural", it's the very nature of nature.


But in that violent process there has always been a golden rule of balance. There is a symbiotic relationship that is self-correcting and keeps itself in check. If one predator begins to dominate and eat up all of its prey, it too will die out.



When humans began to develop a cognitive awareness that gave them the ability to act beyond instinct alone - they effectively began to step outside of nature itself. This also granted us a great deal of dominion over it. Interestingly though, this is also simultaneously the time when we began to develop concepts of morals and right versus wrong.

So it's almost like something - Mother Nature, evolution, God, whatever floats your boat - had this all planned out: They were saying "you will now inherit great power, but with great power comes great responsibility".



That's why above all else I think our number one moral obligation is to understand and respect that golden concept of balance in nature, and resolve to always work within it. I don't really think it's the right approach to simply say "well, don't eat bacon because pigs have feelings too". Because ironically in doing that - we're still just imposing our own human constructs onto these things.

If my cat was "consciously aware" like we are - she would see a cardinal and say "wow that's a beautiful bird, I should leave it alone though because I'm already well fed and it probably has a family and kids of its own to support." But no, she just sees a big bright shiny red target that nature specifically programmed her to see as such.

So don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to derail the spirit of this approach - it definitely has its heart in the right place. But I think instead of unfairly trying to bring other animals up to our level, like I did yesterday with my cat, we should simply focus on really understanding the gravity of our special but precarious place within this balance.

That's enough to not only set good moral standards, but also practical ones that are key to our own survival as well.


It's kind of trippy when you think about it though - the biggest problem we have stems from all those people who go through life feeling entitled and completely self-absorbed - and thus unconsciously unaware of all this.

reply to post by mc_squared


Maybe your cat is just evil

Joking aside you have a very valid point IMO but I'd like to counterpoint that conscious awareness doesn't necessarily equal what you personally think of as moral. Morality is subjective, after all... humans still hunt when they don't need to. In western culture, we don't even need to eat meat, but most still do.

Always enjoy your perspective

Originally posted by Kali74
reply to post by mc_squared

 

Maybe your cat is just evil

Joking aside you have a very valid point IMO but I'd like to counterpoint that conscious awareness doesn't necessarily equal what you personally think of as moral. Morality is subjective, after all... humans still hunt when they don't need to. In western culture, we don't even need to eat meat, but most still do.

Always enjoy your perspective

What moral authority are you granted to tell me I don't need to eat meat??

reply to post by starfoxxx


Relax dude. I didn't say it was right or wrong to eat meat. I said in the western world we don't need to eat meat, there's plenty of proof for such, I'm living proof as I'm perfectly healthy and was raised vegetarian. I only used it as an analogy specific to the person I was replying to. It isn't for me to say what is right for me is right for everyone and I didn't even come close to claiming such. Did it hurt when your knee slammed into your chin?

reply to post by Kali74


My cat is pretty evil actually, and yet so sweet and innocent at the same time. Oh, cats lol...


Anyway - yeah for sure: morals, consciousness - it's all relative really. I just know for me personally, when I look at it from the perspective above, it's the only thing that really helps me see some kind of purpose, meaning in everything. To each their own though of course.

Another weird irony: being meat eaters is what helped us develop brains big enough in the first place to question whether eating meat is "right".

Sometimes I feel like nature and (physical) evolution have been vehicles that drove us up to the edge of a cliff, threw us over the edge and said "I gave you wings, now learn how to use them (evolve spiritually)...or...splat."

Sadly I think you know which way I feel we are headed.

reply to post by starfoxxx


Yeah really - who said anything about moral authority? It's just biology. I don't see any vegans dropping dead in the streets from malnutrition, do you? Whether you choose to eat it comes down to your own personal morals.

I feel like you are just trolling, and judging from the combatitive nature of your posts - that's the type of personality I expect from people who would hunt for sport, because shooting some defenceless animal makes 'em feel like a bigger man or something.

Originally posted by mc_squared
reply to post by starfoxxx

 

Yeah really - who said anything about moral authority? It's just biology. I don't see any vegans dropping dead in the streets from malnutrition, do you? Whether you choose to eat it comes down to your own personal morals.

I feel like you are just trolling, and judging from the combatitive nature of your posts - that's the type of personality I expect from people who would hunt for sport, because shooting some defenceless animal makes 'em feel like a bigger man or something.

What about eating meat for sport? I'll eat your cat for fun..

reply to post by starfoxxx


Thank you for confirming my initial suspicions, have a nice day.

Originally posted by butcherguy
Difficult to prove.
Impossible actually.
It is entirely possible that I am the only conscious being in existence and that everything else is just a construct in that consciousness.

An animal that shows evidence of dreaming indicates memories are being processed in virtual (inside the mind) space-time. This, to me, is conscious awareness evidence. It also indicates a conscious mind and a sub-conscious mind since dreams occur within the subconscious mind. Thus the awareness navigates amongst conscious mind with sub-conscious mind serving as a foundation while awake. Just like humans do.

Dreaming is evidence.

reply to post by purplemer


Now if humans would develop a Conscious Awareness towards other humans and stop these incessant wars....

We might have a future; otherwise I don't hold out much hope!