Historic Denial of Consciousness in Other Animals

Because of the basic scientific value of skepticism, there has been a sustained denial of consciousness in other animals ever since science matured, from Rene Descartes to the present day. This is because there has never been any agreed upon way to fathom the subjective experiences of animals, the way human language allows us to communicate about our inner states. Finally, the “weight of evidence” is on the side of common sense on this issue, but the weight-of-history still prevents most scientists, especially animal behaviorists and neuroscientists, from accepting animal sentience as a scientifically workable topic. This talk will summarize how long-standing biases in the field could be overcome, which may greatly benefit our understanding of the emotional foundations of human nature. The neural understanding of core affective processes, homologous in all mammals, is of critical importance for appreciating how our higher mental processes, and social lives, are constructed through life experiences. Enormous advances have been made in the last half century in understanding how primal emotions are organized in the brain, and how primary-process emotions control secondary-process learning and memory. These provide the essential ingredients for higher-order mental activities, which, unlike emotional states, are almost impossible to study neuroscientifically in animals. This talk will focus on the battles that are still being engaged on whether other animals do have emotional feelings or not, and how these battles are delaying our scientific understanding of the nature of human consciousness, which may also have great benefits for future understanding of human psychiatric disorders and their treatment.

[lescobayetheguineapigs]

My Guinea Pigs are pretty smart, you may have a point.
No offense/offence intended. All the Best and Much Lurve, Les.
P.S. Away for the weekend, any chance of looking in on the Guinea Pigs?
Should be OK for water, food in the cupboard.
All the Best and Much Lurve, Les.

[lescobayetheguineapigs]

FIRST!
Les. Please see comment below.