Animals Are as Aware as Humans, Say Scientists
September 30, 2012
“The body of scientific evidence is increasingly showing that most animals are conscious in the same way that we are, and it’s no longer something we can ignore.”
Anyone with close inter-species relationships knows experientially that non-humans are as aware as humans. Nevertheless, the power of this declaration from mainstream science is at least two-fold -- (1) it encourages a deeper level of respect for animals, and (2) demonstrates a growing alignment between science and spirituality.
From WeCare2.com, "Scientists Declare: Animals Are as Aware as Humans"
By George Dvorsky, io9.com, via Discovery Channel:
An international group of prominent scientists has signed The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness in which they are proclaiming their support for the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are — a list of animals that includes all mammals, birds, and even the octopus. But will this make us stop treating these animals in totally inhumane ways?
While it might not sound like much for scientists to declare that many nonhuman animals possess conscious states, it’s the open acknowledgement that’s the big news here. The body of scientific evidence is increasingly showing that most animals are conscious in the same way that we are, and it’s no longer something we can ignore.
What’s also very interesting about the declaration is the group’s acknowledgement that consciousness can emerge in those animals that are very much unlike humans, including those that evolved along different evolutionary tracks, namely birds and some encephalopods.
“The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states,” they write. “Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors.”
Consequently, say the signatories, the scientific evidence is increasingly indicating that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness.
NEWS: Dolphins May Be Math Geniuses...
See entire article here.
Read more about this here and here.
View this 36-second video from the rigorous scientific experiment, "Which is the guilty dog?"
Comments
Sorry PaulM but respectfully I say you are incorrect. My dogs remember many things including people they dont see for years. My dogs are wary of anyone new but when they see old family members they go berserk. I will give you they have a short attention span you can manipulate but they do remember. Especially if you have ever seen a beaten dogs reactions.
Chris
By Chris on 2012 10 19
From the entry 'Animals Are as Aware as Humans, Say Scientists'.
Just who had dogs knows they know everything…
By Jose Souto on 2012 10 02
From the entry 'Animals Are as Aware as Humans, Say Scientists'.
I disagree.
Dogs for instance are totally lost from moment to moment. They have no continuity of memory. Each moment is totally new for the.
So, it’s important not to blend the meanings of conscious and aware.
Everything is the one being, consciousness.
Every being has a unique level of awareness.
Even most humans vary in their level of awareness. While all contain that one consciousness.
If you really believe that all beings contain the same amount of awareness as every other being, then why are you a meat eater? Are you going to become a breatharian now, or maybe a vegetarian? Or are you happy to continue eating your fellow equally aware beings.
By PaulM on 2012 10 01
From the entry 'Animals Are as Aware as Humans, Say Scientists'.
