The rats laugh, when the bees have fun, when the dance dance is planned, and when dogs are excited. Since the end of the twentieth century, research has been research on animal emotions and experience.
Consciousness is often defined Having subjective experiences. “We are talking about this particular type of phenomenal awareness,” says Jeff Seb, the director and enthusiasm of the Philosopher and Animal Protection Center, ethics and politics, both in New York University. “You may have subjective feelings, such as sensory experiences like perception or pain, are like pleasure or pain, that’s what we call consciousness.”
Sebo, Kristin Andrews and Jonathan with birch philosophers, starting with Declaration on the conscience of animals in New York. Released in April 2024, more than 500 scientists and researchers around the world have signed. The trio itself has just made an attempt Science When animals make similar behaviors similar to the conscious experience of humans, such as joy, suffering and other emotions This can begin to suggest conscious animal experience.
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American scientific To find out what potential markers of conscious markers are aware of whether a species is conscious, unless proven, scientists have awareness through the markers of animal joy.
(It follows the edited transcript of the conversation.Diagnies
How can you help the joy or pain in search of markers to determine whether animals are conscious?
Awareness is such a difficult issue to study. Any physical system, including our brain, explains us to be conscious of our brain. This makes it difficult for me to know what, what anything else will be, other humans. So instead of trying to fix it A tough problem of consciousness Or the problem of other enthusiasm, we identify behaviors and anatomical markers that match the most important scientific theories of consciousness. And then we look for these animal markers.
You will begin using an introspection to distinguish conscious experience and unconscious experience in humans. We look inside and say to have an unconscious response to the conscious pain. We search for anatomical behavior or indicators related to conscious processing in humans, and we can seek anatomical behavior or anatomical indicators or indicators in animals.
Of course, there will be evidence of consciousness. They will not establish certainty about consciousness, but we can treat them as evidence. And when we find many markers or indicators in an animal, when consciousness can take the probability present.
So the last step would be to calculate the rough probability between behaviors and anatomics that we find in that animal. Implementing high, medium and small probability of consciousness can be step towards how to learn how to learn or interact with that animal.
How do we deal with the lack of certainty? Do we need to assume that an animal is conscious until they are otherwise proven or not enough awareness?
Usually, scientists believe that awareness is not unless evidence is present. However, the many animals, which at least if you have a realistic possibility of consciousness, based on existing evidence, the starting point should be neutral or assumes consciousness.
My colleague Kristin Andrews, who wrote Science Essay with me and Jonathan with the birch, he argued, in fact, that we need to flip the default hypothesis to the presence of animals. We believe that animals are conscious and then investigated the dimensions of this consciousness.
(That says that he confirms that, not only ethically, because it implies a kind of attitude of interactions made with animals, as well as it can cause better and demanding hypotheses about the nature of consciousness.
You recommend researching animal awareness awareness of excess pain markers, to see how the animals respond deliberately. Does the consciousness think of practices difficult?
We use pain markers to evaluate the probability that animals can have negative states such as pain and suffering. You can ask basic questions: do they form their wounds? Do humans respond to analgesics or antidepressants in the same ways human beings do? Do they make the exchanges of behavior like to prevent pain and find other valuable goals to find a new shell or find food? And as far as they behave, we can have more confidence that they can have pain and suffering. This provides us with information on how we can change our interactions with ethics and politics.
But if the animals have a realistic opportunity to be conscious, pain markers should be ethical care. We can see past studies (investigating) the presence or absence of pain markers. We can do research on the field and use pain observations of pain and punish wounds in the desert without deliberately causing pain. We can still use pain markers if we ethically gather.
The advantage of using pain markers is that they are easy to observe. How do you learn joy?
There are at least a few markers that appear among the animals that appear relatively widespread. Laughter is vocalizations. Some pretty species will be vocalized in a way that represents a cheerful experience. Rodents can do ultrahigh frequency sounds with vocation, in a way that resembles the laughter.
Another example is optimism. You can do exams that allow you to get unknown. If they are more easier, this suggests a positive approach. If they are more easily easier, this suggests a pessimistic view. Optimism is generally linked to positive experience, positive impact.
Then there is a game. We play behavior in different animals. It does not seem to be an obvious direct evolutionary advantage, but it seems to be a statement of joy. We find that there is no other mammals, like dogs, as well as insects. Involves research Bees shooting a ball It is only a kind of positive experience associated with it.
There are some more specific species that will be more specific drawn markets, facial expressions or a little tail. In the end, there are other markers, such as oxytocin or dopamine or serotonin brain.
In combination with pain and perception markers, joy markers can allow better understanding of consciousness. If the animals have a realistic opportunity to be conscious, we have ethical and scientific reasons to look beyond that pain.
