chefranden Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Exploring Consciousness through the Study of Bees ...Today only the bruised rib remains as a testament to how much of the stream of consciousness is pure sensation. Whether you are weaving on a motorbike through flowing traffic, running in the mountains, dancing to fast rock and roll, reading an engaging book, making love or debating with your friend, your eyes, ears, skin and body sensors paint an engrossing picture of the outside, including your own body, onto your mind’s canvas. Animal Consciousness? I suspect this feeling is not that dissimilar to the way animals consciously experience their world. Except perhaps for the great apes and a few other privileged big-brained animals, most species do not posses the highly developed sense of self, the ability to reflect on oneself, that people have. Most biologists and pet owners are willing to grant consciousness to cats, dogs and other mammals. Yet our intuitions fail us completely when we consider fish and birds, let alone invertebrates such as squid, flies or worms. Do they experience the sights and sounds, the pains and pleasures, of life? Surely they can’t be conscious—they look too different from us, too alien. Also in this issue of Mind Insects, in particular, were long thought to be simple, reflexive creatures with hardwired instinctual behaviors. No more. Consider the amazing capabilities of the honeybee, Apis mellifera... Read it all here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snafutopia Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I've wondered, what do Christians make of Revelation 5:13? "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." If the Christians who say everything in the Bible is "the literal truth" then doesn't this mean that all animals have souls (whatever that means), as in this passage all animals are not only aware of God and Jesus but also are able verbally to worship God and Jesus. But I've never heard that even mentioned in the Baptist church -- it's skimmed over with zero comment, and zero question. Next time the subject or text comes up, I'll try to think and ask about it The viewpoint has always been the typical androcentric arrogance -- basically, only humans can feel and think, only humans have any sort of "spirituality", and only humans are "worth saving". i.e. "Jesus didn't die on the cross so that Fido could go to heaven." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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