From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!milano!cactus.org!wixer!sparky Tue Nov 24 10:51:34 EST 1992
Article 7603 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!cs.utexas.edu!milano!cactus.org!wixer!sparky
>From: sparky@wixer.cactus.org (Timothy Sheridan)
Subject: Re: Consciousness in animals
Message-ID: <1992Nov11.193635.4685@wixer.cactus.org>
Organization: Real/Time Communications
References: <1992Nov11.043222.2004@cc.uow.edu.au>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 19:36:35 GMT
Lines: 42

In article <1992Nov11.043222.2004@cc.uow.edu.au> plumpton@wampyr.cc.uow.edu.au
(David Plumpton) writes:
>
>On the assumption that animals experience consciousness (which I believe),
>where abouts in the level of animal development would people think that
>it starts? i.e. where is the very first 'spark' of self-awareness?
>
>If we list organisms of decreasing mental complexity from humans to virii as:
>Humans, monkeys, dogs, mice, bees, flies, ameobas, virii,
>where would you first say "Stop, no self-awareness there" ?
>
>My personal guess would go between bees and flies, i.e. nothing for a fly,
>but the barest degree of consciousness for a bee.
>
>From observing the behaviour of chimps I have no doubt at all that they
>are conscious. It's pretty much the same for dogs. A mouse seems like a
>scaled down dog. A bee looks to me to have small amounts of planning and
>navigating, but a fly seems "hard-wired" and aimless.
>
>Any comments or wildly differing arguments?
>--
>/------------------------------\ /-------------------------------\
>I       David Plumpton          I     There is a holy trinity:    |
>I plumpton@wampyr.cc.uow.edu.au I N Tesla, R Feynman and C Sagan  |
>\------------------------------/ \-------------------------------/


I feel like a scailed up bee....:)  Once you understand consciousness its all
rather mechanical....but being mechanical is'nt so bad sinse the rest of the
universe seems to be this way too!

When asking about consciousness at decreesing non-verbal levels there is no
real place to stop....an electron while 'programed' is still sensing other
influences and responding to what ever it in its simple way blankly perceives.
..so to ask "what is it conscious of" goes a long way...a rock isnt conscious
of the catigory of object that hits it but is in some sense "conscious"of
being hit...BUT it is not cnscious_of_being_conscious_of_being_hit..:) simple.

So those wacky New-Agers realy have somthing to fooer us in the study of
consciousness..:)

Tim


