on animal cognition. A thoughtful essay (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, December 09, 2016, 19:10 (2695 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: Thank you for presenting and editing this article. I am full of admiration and gratitude for the manner in which you continue to monitor all these developments for us.

I have now read the whole article, which I find stimulating and thought-provoking, but unless we actually have a definition of consciousness, I also find it a bit frustrating....If we define consciousness simply as awareness, I think the picture becomes much clearer. Any organism that is aware of its environment (including other organisms), can process information, take decisions based on that information, communicate with other organisms, learn from experience etc. - all of which require awareness – in my book, qualifies to be called conscious.

Thank you. I'll keep on. You are certainly correct. I feel anything with a brain is aware and conscious.

dhw: The question then is not WHETHER an organism is conscious/aware, but what it is conscious/aware of, and the answer to that question (which will depend on our subjective observations of behaviour) will determine the degree of consciousness. I am becoming increasingly convinced that even the smallest organisms fulfil the above criteria.

Of course we still disagree about organisms without a brain.