![]() ![]() In 2012 the scientific establishment still assumed that it is the “neurological substrates” that (somehow) generate consciousness. ![]() Non-human animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neural substrates.” ![]() In 2012, a group of neuroscientists signed the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, which “unequivocally” asserted: “Humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. But with the turn of the century the prevailing view began to change, scientific papers were published on intelligence in animals and more and more scientists began to suspect that consciousness might not simply be a function of brain size. In 1989 veterinarians in the United States were still being taught to ignore pain in animals. It took time for the extreme beliefs of behaviorism to fade. What right had we to call someone slothful, or use the phrase monkey business? How could we know the time-scale of a sloth? And why should humans have a monopoly on consciousness? My dog didn’t just wag his tail and lick my face when I appeared, but actually loved me. I soon realized I was not cut out to be a biologist, as the opposite seemed equally inappropriate to me. A dog could not be pleased to see you, a parrot could not be playful, an octopus could not be sad. I grew up as a student biologist with the unquestionable rule that you do not talk about animal behavior in human terms. A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness ![]()
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