Scientists and philosophers across the globe agree it is reasonable to assume the vast majority of creatures on Earth are sentient in some way B次元官网网址� including lobster, squid and the tiny flies that swarm over drinks left outside in the summer.
The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness, released Friday, was signed by 39 cognition scholars at universities from Canada to Australia. It says there is B次元官网网址渁t least a realistic possibilityB次元官网网址� that all vertebrates and many invertebrates have conscious experience.
The declaration rests on recent scientific studies that show garter snakes can recognize their own scent, crows can report what they see, octopi can avoid pain and fruit flies can sleep B次元官网网址� and they sleep best when theyB次元官网网址檙e with other fruit flies.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e not saying that these animals are having internal monologues,B次元官网网址� said Noam Miller, an associate professor of biology and psychology who runs the Collective Cognition Lab at Wilfrid Laurier University.
B次元官网网址淲hat weB次元官网网址檙e addressing here is a very simple level (of cognition): the ability to feel something, the ability to have an internal experience.B次元官网网址�
There is no accepted definition of consciousness, nor a specific test that can identify it; therefore, there is no real way to scientifically determine that anything B次元官网网址� even a person B次元官网网址� has consciousness, Miller said in an interview.
But there are many accepted B次元官网网址渂ehavioural markersB次元官网网址� of consciousness that can be rigorously and scientifically tested, such as decision making or pain aversion, he said. Scientists have recently started running those tests on simple creatures, like bees, crayfish and lobsters, and theyB次元官网网址檝e come up with stunning results.
A 2022 study showed bumblebees will roll tiny wooden balls around for no other reason than they seem to enjoy it. Crayfish exhibit B次元官网网址渁nxiousB次元官网网址� behaviour, which changed if they were given benzodiazepines, according to studies published between 2014 and 2017. And in 2019, scientists found that cleaner wrasse fish in front of a mirror seem to recognize an unfamiliar mark on their body and will try to get it off.
The declaration released Friday assembles that research, which shows these creatures exhibit behavioural markers of consciousness and concludes that because they have these markers, itB次元官网网址檚 reasonable to assume they have consciousness, Miller said. The declaration challenges people B次元官网网址� including other scientists B次元官网网址� to stop assuming these animals are insentient, or incapable of feeling.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e talking about shifting what our initial assumption is, rather than making any kind of definitive statement one way or the other,B次元官网网址� he said.
As an example, Kristin Andrews, a philosophy professor at York University, says scientific evidence supports the assumption that it B次元官网网址渇eels like somethingB次元官网网址� for a fish to be caught on a hook.
When it is reasonable to assume that an animal has consciousness or feeling, it is reasonable to treat it accordingly, perhaps by adopting harvesting methods that kill fish quickly or by abandoning the practice of boiling lobsters alive, Andrews said in an interview.
Someone may even think twice before squishing an ant that isnB次元官网网址檛 bothering them, she added.
B次元官网网址淚t doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean that you canB次元官网网址檛 kill them, it doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean that you canB次元官网网址檛 eat them, right?B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t just means that weB次元官网网址檙e going to treat them as if they could potentially feel pain, and weB次元官网网址檙e going to minimize the pain that they experience.B次元官网网址�
Andrews was one of three main organizers of the declaration, which she described as a B次元官网网址渉uge deal.B次元官网网址� The recognition that so many creatures have feeling offers everyone the possibility of a wider, deeper connection to the natural around them, she said.
And a better understanding of sentience in crayfish or crabs could help scholars understand consciousness in more complex animals, such as humans.
If insects or other simpler animals have consciousness, B次元官网网址渢hen we have an example of a model organism thatB次元官网网址檚 not as elaborated as humans, and that might not distract us with things like language,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淎nd we might actually be able to uncover the very nature of consciousness, once weB次元官网网址檝e acknowledged that these animals might be conscious.B次元官网网址�
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