Are animals conscious?

I was browsing around the Internet today and stumbled upon an article claiming that animals don't have a consciousness. As such things tend to do to me, it got me thinking.

Most of us assume that other humans are conscious by likening their actions and responses to situations with our own. We communicate with them through language and find that some of their thoughts mirror our own and that we can influence them in the same way they can influence us. We ask them questions about life, what they see, how they feel, what they hear, if they like something and why they like it...and as a result of all this, we reason that they are conscious in the same way we are.

But what makes us think that animals are conscious? What makes us draw these conclusions?

eace:

 

because of all those reasons you listed for humans except asking them questions about life.

 

I think they have a dim consciousness but have less control than we do. I also think that some humans I have come into contact are not really consciouss, or at least less so.

 

How conscious they are is the question.

Clearly, they are conscious because they can learn.

But do they have conscious rationalization of thought?

 

I find this interesting...what leads you to believe this about 'some humans'?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

control of what? Well first off I view us as animals but if we were to make some discrpeancy they obviously cannot manipulate the enviornment like we can. that's really just higher cognitive functioning tho and is separate from consciousness. I think its difficult to say something is more conscious than something else. Are you more conscious than a blind person?

Other mammals certainly show all the trademarks of consciousness: defending itself, fleeing, sex, companionship, playing, etc.

I dont see where we have more conscious control we are still largely driven by instincts and cannot escape our bodily limitations that lead to injury and death.

 

No, I'm not...consciousness is, imo, measured by self-awareness, not sense perceptions.

So what you're saying is that animals are conscious just as we are, but their consciousness is fuelled by their instincts, whilst ours is fuelled more by our thoughts? I'm not sure if that's what you were saying, but if so, that's a totally radical thought.

eace:

 

Just that some people I have met seem to be completely reactionary just like animals, and seem incabaple of self reflection. They often end up as bullies and sociopaths.

 

No one knows. I think you just have to listen to your heart. Personally, I believe there is a continuum of consciousness in the animal kingdom that roughly goes as the complexity of the nervous system. So, fish -- not so much; cats -- quite a bit.

 

Of course they do, they know when they do something bad... i assume your talking about house pets ???

 

Yes I agree somewhat but It really depends how you are defining consciousness, i mean many shamans believe that plants have consciousness. Like lovepeacemusic said Self awareness is I think the defining factor in consciousness and practically every animal I can think of shows that in one way or another. The different levels in consciousness you guys are mentioning appear to be due to how complex the animals brains are. I think fish are still conscious.

Another example so we can relate to as humans for this instance is a baby obviously is not as smart as an adult because it simply has not developed many parts of it's brain and has a severely underdeveloped frontal lobe (responsible for much of formal thinking) So i pose again the question is a baby less conscious than an adult?

 

Thanks everyone. Really cool replies.

So I take it you believe that brain = consciousness guerilla? Can consciousness exist without a brain? Just something I'd like to hear your opinion on.

The baby question's really quite interesting, not to mention the plants thing...I wonder if plants are possibly self-aware? I think determining whether or not they are all comes down to whether consciousness exists exclusively or whether it's a product of the brain. Scientific studies point towards consciousness and the brain being linked due to monitoring of brainwaves and analysing of the subject's recollections, but do you think consciousness is a direct product of the brain or that it's simply 'chanelled through' the brain? By that I mean, assuming we're taking consciousness to mean self-awareness, is consciousness an exclusive 'matter' for lack of a better word, which is filtered through the brain so that the brain can form thoughts, emotions, etc. from it? Just throwing some random theories out there.

Peace. eace:

 

those are some great questions some of which I dont think I can answer. I think the respiatory system and gut could maybe considered to have consciousness as well as there is a flow of neurotransmitters and signals it sends out to the rest of the organism like the brain (gut feeling). Really that boils down to interpretation. How some think plants have consciousness is beyond my ability of comprehension of the term consciousness.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I believe that on some level, perhaps plants are conscious but in a different way to the way in which I am conscious. Hell, perhaps EVERYTHING is conscious. Hopefully, someday, we'll know all the answers. The world's a groovy place huh?

 

my dog can look me in the eye and say "i love you" of course they are conscious.

 

Every now and again there will be a story about a child getting lost in the woods in the winter who has the family dog with them. This just happened again this past winter.

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyl..._lost_in_ariz_woods_warm_safe_for_15_hrs.html

I have heard about this happening many, many times during my life and the story always goes the same way; the dog kept the child warm, even laying on top of the kid until the cold night is over and they are rescued.

I refuse to believe that these dogs do not know what will happen if they do not keep their little companion warm, that they don't know the difference between another dog and a human child, that they are just acting on instinct or that they do not feel love for their charge. All of that takes consciousness.

 

:xmastree:

 

very nice...

I am surprised no one has mentioned dolphins yet.

 

What is there to think about?
They are aware of themselves, their surroundings, they react to stimuli, under what criteria of the word "conscious" could they not be considered?

 

If you mean self aware, then it depends on the animal.

Self awareness is the understanding that ones self exists, as an individual, different from the rest of its species. A self aware animal will recognize itself in a mirror.

Elephants for example, are self aware. The self awareness of dogs is debated, but they arent generally considered as a self aware animal. Although dogs exhibit an acute sense of object permance, in some cases extreme intelligence for there size, and even love. They probably don't have any sense of self.

This differs from a sense of self preservation, witch almost all animals have. The will and need to survive.