As many of you will have seen, many prominent scientists studying the field of consciousness signed a declaration which claimed there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds, as well as at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates and in many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects). To finish off, they concluded with saying that: “… when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal”.
To me this seems like a big thing as this is a new consensus in science, which was unthinkable to reach 100 years ago. However, I am wondering whether anyone has insights on what the actual historical significance of such a claim might be. Any insights?
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As an “animal person” (understatement- I feel more affinity with most animals than people) this seems like just…oh my God ….a giant “Duh”.
Nonetheless im glad it’s happened.
But faaaaark.
This has always been *blindingly* obvious to me. Not even a remote question.
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As many of you will have seen, many prominent scientists studying the field of consciousness signed a declaration which claimed there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds, as well as at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates and in many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects). To finish off, they concluded with saying that: “… when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal”.
To me this seems like a big thing as this is a new consensus in science, which was unthinkable to reach 100 years ago. However, I am wondering whether anyone has insights on what the actual historical significance of such a claim might be. Any insights?
As an “animal person” (understatement- I feel more affinity with most animals than people) this seems like just…oh my God ….a giant “Duh”.
Nonetheless im glad it’s happened.
But faaaaark.
This has always been *blindingly* obvious to me. Not even a remote question.
I don’t know whether to feel sad or happy.