• Gloomy@mander.xyz
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    7 months ago

    The declaration:

    The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness

    Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.

    First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.

    Second, the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects).

    Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.

  • unreasonabro@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Everything about this society is irresponsible, haven’t you noticed? “tee hee can’t stop me” is more or less the name of the game and it’s dragged everybody down to its level

  • someguy3@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The definition of sentience is really low, it’s basically the ability to have sensations and react. The most basic organisms can be argued to have that. The definition is not what I used for most of my life, which is higher intelligence.

    • yokonzo@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That technically is the definition of sentience, basically consciousness with the ability to react and have awareness of your surroundings. I think the word your looking for is sapience, which is the ability to contemplate and act productively using knowledge and reasoning

      • HauntedCupcake@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I think jumping spiders fit into the sapience category then. They’re known to learn different prey types and change their hunting strategies accordingly, even learning typical behaviour and being able to pick out sick/injured insects and figuring out they don’t need to go full stealth.

        They’ve even been observed to enter REM like dreaming states, where it’s assumed they process a lot of the visual information they picked up throughout the day.

        So basically every animal higher than the jumping spider might fit into the sapience category, which is kinda wild to think about

      • someguy3@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Well that’s the word we should use when discussing animal intelligence then.

    • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      sentience
      noun

      1. The quality or state of being sentient; consciousness.
      2. Feeling as distinguished from perception or thought.
        3.The quality or state of being sentient; esp., the quality or state of having sensation.

      I think it is irresponsible wether these creatures are sentient or not. We never know when we’ll cut enough threads to make an ecosystem come undone.

  • Hackerman_uwu@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    There is no question in my mind that one hundred years from now we will look back at our treatment of animals in the same way we look back upon slavery.

    • Gloomy@mander.xyz
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      6 months ago

      That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I am less optimistic, given the way the world is going. It it would be nice.