Scientists and philosophers across the globe agree it is reasonable to assume the vast majority of creatures on Earth are sentient in some way 91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频渁t least a realistic possibility91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频� and they sleep best when they91裸聊视频檙e with other fruit flies.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e not saying that these animals are having internal monologues,91裸聊视频� said Noam Miller, an associate professor of biology and psychology who runs the Collective Cognition Lab at Wilfrid Laurier University.
91裸聊视频淲hat we91裸聊视频檙e addressing here is a very simple level (of cognition): the ability to feel something, the ability to have an internal experience.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频� even a person 91裸聊视频� has consciousness, Miller said in an interview.
But there are many accepted 91裸聊视频渂ehavioural markers91裸聊视频� 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 they91裸聊视频檝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 91裸聊视频渁nxious91裸聊视频� 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, it91裸聊视频檚 reasonable to assume they have consciousness, Miller said. The declaration challenges people 91裸聊视频� including other scientists 91裸聊视频� to stop assuming these animals are insentient, or incapable of feeling.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e talking about shifting what our initial assumption is, rather than making any kind of definitive statement one way or the other,91裸聊视频� he said.
As an example, Kristin Andrews, a philosophy professor at York University, says scientific evidence supports the assumption that it 91裸聊视频渇eels like something91裸聊视频� 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 isn91裸聊视频檛 bothering them, she added.
91裸聊视频淚t doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean that you can91裸聊视频檛 kill them, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean that you can91裸聊视频檛 eat them, right?91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t just means that we91裸聊视频檙e going to treat them as if they could potentially feel pain, and we91裸聊视频檙e going to minimize the pain that they experience.91裸聊视频�
Andrews was one of three main organizers of the declaration, which she described as a 91裸聊视频渉uge deal.91裸聊视频� 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, 91裸聊视频渢hen we have an example of a model organism that91裸聊视频檚 not as elaborated as humans, and that might not distract us with things like language,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淎nd we might actually be able to uncover the very nature of consciousness, once we91裸聊视频檝e acknowledged that these animals might be conscious.91裸聊视频�
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