Bees find nectar and tell their hive-mates; flies evade the swatter; and cockroaches seem to do whatever they like wherever they like. But who would believe that insects are conscious, that they are aware of what’s going on, not just little biobots?
Neuroscientists and philosophers apparently. As scientists lean increasingly toward recognizing that nonhuman animals are conscious in one way or another, the question becomes: Where does consciousness end?
Andrew B. Barron, a cognitive scientist, and Colin Klein, a philosopher, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, propose in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that insects have the capacity for consciousness.
This does not mean that a honeybee thinks, “Why am I not the queen?” or even, “Oh, I like that nectar.” But, Dr. Barron and Dr. Klein wrote in a scientific essay, the honeybee has the capacity to feel something.
Their claim stops short of some others. Christof Koch, the president and chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, and Giulio Tononi, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist at the University of Wisconsin, have proposed that consciousness is nearly ubiquitous in different degrees, and can be present even in nonliving arrangements of matter, to varying degrees.
They say that rather than wonder how consciousness arises, one should look at where we know it exists and go from there to where else it might exist.
They conclude that it is an inherent property of physical systems in which information moves around in a certain way — and that could include some kinds of artificial intelligence and even naturally occurring nonliving matter.
At the most basic level, consciousness is awareness, Dr. Barron and Dr. Klein say. A robot vacuum moves around and responds to information from the external world — when it is stopped by a wall, for instance. But the vacuum doesn’t have any experience, Dr. Klein says — it doesn’t feel like anything to be a Roomba.
Learn more: Do Honeybees Feel? Scientists Are Entertaining the Idea
The Latest on: Consciousness
[google_news title=”” keyword=”consciousness” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Consciousness
- Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 17 Review: Consciousness of Guilton December 6, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Our review of Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 17 reveals what happens when Thomas and Juliet take on separate cases for the good of their relationship.
- The How & Why of Consciousnesson December 6, 2023 at 9:14 am
Tallis in Wonderland The How & Why of Consciousness Raymond Tallis says the mysteries haven’t been solved. Of the many mysteries in which our existence is wrapped, three seem es ...
- E-Cigarette Market to Surpass USD 188.75 Billion by 2030 due to Rising Health Consciousness and Smoking Cessation Aid | Research by SNS Insideron December 6, 2023 at 7:02 am
According to SNS Insider’s research, the e-cigarette market is characterized by dynamic growth, fueled by factors such as health consciousness, flavor innovation, convenience, reduced secondhand smoke ...
- Multidisciplinary architect Lina Ghotmeh talks encouraging a consciousness for the natural world and critical thinkingon December 6, 2023 at 5:48 am
French-Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh, the first Arab woman selected to design this years prestigious Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is no stranger to coveted accolades.
- Being you — a new science of consciousness with Anil Sethon December 6, 2023 at 1:00 am
Your internal experience of consciousness – your rich inner life — has had scientists and philosophers completely perplexed for centuries. How does your brain's 100 billion neurons conjure up that ...
- Mice pass a key test of consciousnesson December 5, 2023 at 9:01 am
Before you set a mouse trap, you may want to think — because the mouse might be thinking too. A new study has found that mice appear to recognize themselves in the mirror — placing them in a rarified ...
- Artificial Consciousness Tech, Inc. Awarded 2023 AI Excellence Award for Groundbreaking Artificial Consciousness Systemon December 4, 2023 at 7:45 pm
Artificial Consciousness Tech, Inc. (ACT), a leading innovator in artificial intelligence, has been recognized with the 2023 AI Excellence ...
- Fashion Designer Rohit Bal regains consciousness & wakes up after his health deterioratedon December 3, 2023 at 4:29 am
A significant health update on fashion designer Rohit Bal: he has recently regained consciousness after being unresponsive to noise for the past 10 days., News News on Zoom TV ...
- Sustainable Gaming: The online industry’s efforts towards environmental consciousnesson November 30, 2023 at 7:25 am
As this industry sees heightened fervor, especially in the wake of the upcoming festive season, it has become increasingly established that this vigorous growth must be paralleled by an equal sense of ...
- Basic Call to Consciousnesson November 29, 2023 at 3:59 pm
Their reasoning is patently medieval and racist: “Civilization is that quality possessed by people with civil governments, civil government is Europe’s kind of government; Indians di ...
via Bing News