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> It doesn't have a role ... Consciousness evolved, therefore it must have provided an advantage. We just have to find it. That's a pretty wild claim, consider

> It doesn't have a role ... Consciousness evolved, therefore it must have provided an advantage. We just have to find it. That's a pretty wild claim, considering that the only animal proven to have a consciousness is the apex-predator of the whole world.

IshKebab 2y ago
It's a pretty out-there idea that we're the only conscious animals. Along the lines of "animals don't have feelings" which seems to be mostly pushed by Christians.
- dist-epoch 2y ago
  I didn't say we're the only one. But that we are the one we know for a fact are conscious.
  - groestl 2y ago
    I know only for a fact that I'm conscious ;)
- anon291 2y ago
  > Along the lines of "animals don't have feelings" which seems to be mostly pushed by Christians. Can you provide any source for this claim? The historical Christian belief is that animals have souls and feelings and inner experiences.
  - IshKebab 2y ago
    It stems from the belief that only humans have a soul. Here's an example: https://www.christianforums.com/threads/animals-dont-have-feelings.78809 https://www.christianforums.com/threads/animals-dont-have-fe... I think that view has changed a lot over the last few decades but certainly 30 years ago it was pretty common.
    - anon291 2y ago
      This is not a Christian belief, Augustine and Aquinas (among others) openly believed animals, plants, even stones, had souls. A lot of mistakes regarding Christian theology is people mistaking something they heard '30 years ago' with a millennia old religion
      - IshKebab 2y ago
        I didn't mean it was an official position of the Church, just one that a lot of Christians have (or at least had fairly recently). Let's not no-true-Scotsman this.
        anon291 2y ago
        You brought up Christians, not me. Was it meant as a serious claim, or just casual bigotry?
        IshKebab 2y ago
        Err yes I did bring it up and it was a serious claim. I'm not sure what your problem with it is tbh.
        anon291 2y ago
        The thread you posted is one guy who says animals don't have feelings and asking for a Bible verse to support it and a bunch of responders pointing out that animals obviously have feelings.

IshKebab 2y ago

It's a pretty out-there idea that we're the only conscious animals. Along the lines of "animals don't have feelings" which seems to be mostly pushed by Christians.

dist-epoch 2y ago
I didn't say we're the only one. But that we are the one we know for a fact are conscious.
- groestl 2y ago
  I know only for a fact that I'm conscious ;)
anon291 2y ago
> Along the lines of "animals don't have feelings" which seems to be mostly pushed by Christians. Can you provide any source for this claim? The historical Christian belief is that animals have souls and feelings and inner experiences.
- IshKebab 2y ago
  It stems from the belief that only humans have a soul. Here's an example: https://www.christianforums.com/threads/animals-dont-have-feelings.78809 https://www.christianforums.com/threads/animals-dont-have-fe... I think that view has changed a lot over the last few decades but certainly 30 years ago it was pretty common.
  - anon291 2y ago
    This is not a Christian belief, Augustine and Aquinas (among others) openly believed animals, plants, even stones, had souls. A lot of mistakes regarding Christian theology is people mistaking something they heard '30 years ago' with a millennia old religion
    - IshKebab 2y ago
      I didn't mean it was an official position of the Church, just one that a lot of Christians have (or at least had fairly recently). Let's not no-true-Scotsman this.
      - anon291 2y ago
        You brought up Christians, not me. Was it meant as a serious claim, or just casual bigotry?
        IshKebab 2y ago
        Err yes I did bring it up and it was a serious claim. I'm not sure what your problem with it is tbh.
        anon291 2y ago
        The thread you posted is one guy who says animals don't have feelings and asking for a Bible verse to support it and a bunch of responders pointing out that animals obviously have feelings.