Consciousness; proposed new research (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, June 19, 2015, 18:42 (3233 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Sentience, by your own admission is a recognition of stimuli, but that meaning 'awareness' does not imply cognition, since automatic reactions can supply the same result, seen externally to the organism[/i].
> 
> dhw: Of course you are free to reject the findings of these scientists who have spent a lifetime in this particular field. The argument that automatic reactions seen externally can supply the same result may be applied to your belief in human free will, but you will do an intellectual somersault if a determinist puts that argument to you. Back to Shapiro's explanation of your anthropocentrism: “Large organs chauvinism, so we like to think that only we can do things in a cognitive way.”-The argument that free will looks just like the automatic responses of a single cell is way off the mark. Your freedom of choice in the wording of the above paragraph presenting your individual views belies your presentation about free will as an answer to my point. The brain is not a single cell, as a straw man and as a biologic computer amazingly different. And I do think that many animals have cognition to a small degree similar to ours. They just can't ruminate about being self-aware as we do.