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Scientists push new paradigm of animal consciousness, saying even insects may be sentient (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

163 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Far more animals than previously thought likely have consciousness, top scientists say in a new declaration — including fish, lobsters and octopus.

Bees play by rolling wooden balls — apparently for fun. The cleaner wrasse fish appears to recognize its own visage in an underwater mirror. Octopuses seem to react to anesthetic drugs and will avoid settings where they likely experienced past pain.

All three of these discoveries came in the last five years — indications that the more scientists test animals, the more they find that many species may have inner lives and be sentient. A surprising range of creatures have shown evidence of conscious thought or experience, including insects, fish and some crustaceans.

That has prompted a group of top researchers on animal cognition to publish a new pronouncement that they hope will transform how scientists and society view — and care — for animals.

Nearly 40 researchers signed “The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness,” which was first presented at a conference at New York University on Friday morning. It marks a pivotal moment, as a flood of research on animal cognition collides with debates over how various species ought to be treated.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

In my opinion the idea of animal conscious has been fairly well supported for decades at minimum. There was a certain anti-consciousness orthodoxy in the animal behavior field that held back understanding of this topic. But I mean simple observation of animal behavior and the similar nervous structures surely leave animal consciousness the most likely explanation, even if it’s difficult to definitively prove.

A more interesting question in my mind is whether plants are conscious. This is a question that we truly have no idea how to answer.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The idea that turned me into a vegetarian is the realization that my pets most definitely had personalities, and what is a person if not something with a personality?

I might not be able to have a complex discussion about shared interests with them, but there are plenty of humans you can say the same thing about, and I'm still not going to eat them, or be okay with them being tortured from birth to execution.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I might not be able to have a complex discussion about shared interests with them, but there are plenty of humans you can say the same thing about, and I’m still not going to eat them, or be okay with them being tortured from birth to execution.

Well, I mean...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

🧐