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Its an uneasy thought to have that sentience might not be a binary function that humans have and other species lack. It might be a continuum. Some animals are f
by noonespecial 14y ago
Its an uneasy thought to have that sentience might not be a binary function that humans have and other species lack. It might be a continuum. Some animals are far more sentient than others. Its followed closely by the even more uncomfortable thought that this might vary greatly inside the species. Finally this eerie train of thought pulls into the last station and you think that if the above is true than its almost certain that some humans are less sentient than others. There be dragons.
- pyre 14y agoWell, you could take that as "less sentient humans should be treated like animals and abused/treated like property/eaten." On the other hand, you could take it as: - Maybe I shouldn't eat all / some animals. - Maybe some / all animals should have more rights and not be treated as objects, but living beings. [Not to mention the Christian fundamentalists that will refer to the Bible stating that God gave man domain over animals, so things like lighting cats on fire for fun are ok.]
- scotty79 14y agoI totally agree on non-binary sentience. I think level of sentience correlates with capacity to experience dreams. I think cats and dogs and even smaller animals are somewhat sentient because they dream. What's more interesting, what level of sentience could be achieved with brain that has lot more power than human brain?