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Crows Are Self-Aware Just Like Humans, And They May Be as Smart as Gorillas
(www.popularmechanics.com)
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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this is very interesting but how the fuck did they figure this out? i skimmed the article and its vague on what would be the coolest details.
One common test is the famous "mirror test" where an animal is given some problem that can only be solved by using its own reflection in a mirror for reference, such as a study involving an Australian ant. They put a blue dot made of felt (I think) on the ant's head behind the antennae, and watched the ant clean itself once it saw that it's reflection had a weird blue thing on its head. But I don't know if there are other tests for "self awareness"
The problem with that test is that not all animals process visual information the same.
For example, rats have horrible vision but two noses, one just for smelling pheromones. I'm quite positive my rats are self-aware being highly social animals with a theory of mind.
But they'll never pass a mirror test.
Right, if an animal passes the test that's a strong indication of self awareness, but if it doesn't then consciousness cannot be ruled out. I would imagine most animals are self aware at least on some level because being able to model oneself within your environment is a useful property. Any organism with a relatively sophisticated internal model would naturally have itself as part of its model.
Yeah, I think self awareness is a really low bar that we tend to think we're special for having. And that this fallacy is part of why animal rights are basically shit.
The mirror test does show that an animal is self-conscious, in the sense that, it likely cares what others think and thus has a theory of mind. And you're right, it only proves self-consciousness, it doesn't prove its lack because as I stated earlier in the case of my rats, other senses might be involved that would produce that response.
Dogs too. Seem much more concerned with how each other smell than how each other look.
I never really understood why the default assumption is that consciousness is something unique to humans and we should default to assuming other animals are not conscious as opposed to the other way around.
id imagine consciousness must be on a spectrum instead of an is/is not thing
All forms of consciousness but, yes, most especially self-awareness. A lot of people really aren't that self-aware compared to a Zen Master. And an earthworm is less self-aware than most people.
I very much agree.
The mirror test is certainly somewhat debatable in determining the degree of self-awareness and intelligence. For this reason, today it is determined not only with this, but with a set of tests that includes the general ability to solve problems to determine the intellectual capacity of an animal. It is always the question if the animal does not correspond to the mirror test, if it is due to lack of understanding, lack of interest or other reasons, little childs also don't pass the mirror test. It is to find out if the animal knows exactly what it is doing.