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Think so? My guess is that we are only sentient in our minds. Compared to a species still around that reached our level a billion years ago, I don't think we wo

Think so? My guess is that we are only sentient in our minds. Compared to a species still around that reached our level a billion years ago, I don't think we would even register as conscious. It's all speculative, of course, but I tend to think we vastly overestimate how special, unique, important, intelligent, and so forth we actually are. The numbers just don't look like they support it.

bhaak 9y ago
We consider life inherently interesting. An ant is objectively an inferior lifeform compared to us. Smaller, weaker, less intelligent. But there are still human beings that dedicate their life to study them. And we find unique and interesting features in them. I don't think this would be different if a more developed life form would study. Supposing, that this life form still has some curiosity left. But if they lived so long that everything is boring to them, it's not our fault that they wouldn't find us interesting. :-)
- boomlinde 9y ago
  Inferiority is an inherently subjective notion. That it is inferior to be smaller, weaker and less intelligent reflects your values, not some sort of universal score sheet.
- addicted 9y ago
  There are human beings who devote their lives to studying rocks. Doesn't tell you much at all about how much we value rocks.
  - bhaak 9y ago
    No, but valuation wasn't what OP and I were getting at. OP said "We're no more interesting than your average gas cloud." and that we are nothing special. I disagreed and said that even in the eye of much more powerful or advanced species, we would still be considered a curiosity. At least to some. It's entirely possible that we could be blown away by the next being. But at least some members of the same species would regret that.
lambdaphagy 9y ago
> My guess is that we are only sentient in our minds. Where else would we be sentient?
- roryisok 9y ago
  We're not sentient at all. We only think we're sentient.
  - cgmg 9y ago
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient Uh, no. I'm pretty sure we qualify as sentient.
saiya-jin 9y ago
Of course we are. We don't like reality, it's cruel and harsh, so we twist reality all the time to make us look and feel better and special. Just one example - why do all hollywood scifi movies have everything happening in US? I presume it looks OK to you, but ridiculous to anyone outside. World is much bigger (and more interesting) than just US. I presume, to developed aliens, we would be like neanderthals or less. Primitive, cruel, not thinking much, acting more on emotional impulses. Yepp, that's our world and societies of today.

bhaak 9y ago

We consider life inherently interesting. An ant is objectively an inferior lifeform compared to us. Smaller, weaker, less intelligent. But there are still human beings that dedicate their life to study them. And we find unique and interesting features in them. I don't think this would be different if a more developed life form would study. Supposing, that this life form still has some curiosity left. But if they lived so long that everything is boring to them, it's not our fault that they wouldn't find us interesting. :-)

boomlinde 9y ago
Inferiority is an inherently subjective notion. That it is inferior to be smaller, weaker and less intelligent reflects your values, not some sort of universal score sheet.
addicted 9y ago
There are human beings who devote their lives to studying rocks. Doesn't tell you much at all about how much we value rocks.
- bhaak 9y ago
  No, but valuation wasn't what OP and I were getting at. OP said "We're no more interesting than your average gas cloud." and that we are nothing special. I disagreed and said that even in the eye of much more powerful or advanced species, we would still be considered a curiosity. At least to some. It's entirely possible that we could be blown away by the next being. But at least some members of the same species would regret that.

lambdaphagy 9y ago

> My guess is that we are only sentient in our minds. Where else would we be sentient?

roryisok 9y ago
We're not sentient at all. We only think we're sentient.
- cgmg 9y ago
  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentient Uh, no. I'm pretty sure we qualify as sentient.

saiya-jin 9y ago

Of course we are. We don't like reality, it's cruel and harsh, so we twist reality all the time to make us look and feel better and special. Just one example - why do all hollywood scifi movies have everything happening in US? I presume it looks OK to you, but ridiculous to anyone outside. World is much bigger (and more interesting) than just US. I presume, to developed aliens, we would be like neanderthals or less. Primitive, cruel, not thinking much, acting more on emotional impulses. Yepp, that's our world and societies of today.