bleedblue22 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 From an evolutionary perspective, it confuses me why humans have such a strong feeling of being an "I" and are fully of their existence. If we are basically just machines used to pass on genes, wouldn't having a brain that works simply like a computer doing data processing do the trick? I mean no matter how complex this processing gets and how complex our reaction to stimuli gets, why evolve self-awareness? Computers can do incredibly complex things and can perform certain calculations and tasks with plenty of efficiency without being conscious so why couldn't animals have merely just evolved more complex ways of reacting to stimuli without that extra ingredient of consciousness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Dolphins and maybe some other animals have self awareness.. the common denominator seems to be necessary social interaction. Just a guess, I haven't really looked into it. I wonder who was the first person to think putting meat on a fire was a good idea, that one act furthered our evolution greatly, making food easier to digest and freeing up nutrition for brain development instead of digestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueScholar Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 http://www.ex-christian.net/topic/64236-why-are-humans-such-strang-creatures/#.VLNbbEbK6nM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Oh ya.. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 By far most of the animals on this planet are of the roach/ant/spider/microbe variety. What I mean is that higher thoughts are a recent development that does not come easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Conscious thought was impossible until language developed. Can't have internal dialogue without words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Dolphins and maybe some other animals have self awareness.. How was this figured out....I am just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongWayAround Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Dolphins and maybe some other animals have self awareness.. How was this figured out....I am just curious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Dolphins and maybe some other animals have self awareness.. How was this figured out....I am just curious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness. And here's a YouTube video demonstrating Dolphins' self-awareness: http://youtu.be/Mn6kJJfNLVA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted January 12, 2015 Moderator Share Posted January 12, 2015 There's some really good discussions about this here...... http://thebrainbank.scienceblog.com/2013/03/04/what-is-consciousness-a-scientists-perspective/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Dolphins and maybe some other animals have self awareness..How was this figured out....I am just curious http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness. And here's a YouTube video demonstrating Dolphins' self-awareness: http://youtu.be/Mn6kJJfNLVA It doesn't play on this site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Thanks for the reply's, the mirror test makes sense-i have seen my cats in the past react to mirror images of themselves but act as if it is another cat. Also i don't know what it means but i have seen cats watch television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Sorry, but you can go directly to youtube to play it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Sorry, but you can go directly to youtube to play it. Just watched the video. Thanks for recommending it. -peace (i don't know how to post vids either, no need to apologize, we're cool) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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