Scientists Say Animals Conscious...like us

[Monica]

Prominent scientists sign declaration that animals have conscious awareness, just like us

An international group of prominent scientists has signed The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness in which they are proclaiming their support for the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are — a list of animals that includes all mammals, birds, and even the octopus. But will this make us stop treating these animals in totally inhumane ways?

While it might not sound like much for scientists to declare that many nonhuman animals possess conscious states, it's the open acknowledgement that's the big news here. The body of scientific evidence is increasingly showing that most animals are conscious in the same way that we are, and it's no longer something we can ignore.

What's also very interesting about the declaration is the group's acknowledgement that consciousness can emerge in those animals that are very much unlike humans, including those that evolved along different evolutionary tracks, namely birds and some cephalopods.

"The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states," they write, "Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors."

Consequently, say the signatories, the scientific evidence is increasingly indicating that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness.

The group consists of cognitive scientists, neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, neuroanatomists, and computational neuroscientists — all of whom were attending the Francis Crick Memorial Conference on Consciousness in Human and Non-Human Animals. The declaration was signed in the presence of Stephen Hawking, and included such signatories as Christof Koch, David Edelman, Edward Boyden, Philip Low, Irene Pepperberg, and many more.

The declaration made the following observations:

The field of Consciousness research is rapidly evolving. Abundant new techniques and strategies for human and non-human animal research have been developed. Consequently, more data is becoming readily available, and...

[Jeremy]

Talk about synchronicity! I just read a story about an hour ago on facebook and thought about sharing it. I don't know of the accuracy of it but it's certainly a touching story

The Bull Who Cried...

Knowing he was about to be slaughtered, a bull in Hong Kong did what many people fail to realize or are skeptic about when it comes to animals - he showed emotion.

As reported by Weekly World News, a group of workers walked a bull to a packaging factory. They were about to slaughter him to make steaks and beef stews. When they were close to the front door of the slaughter house, the sorrowful bull suddenly stopped going forward and knelt down on his two front legs.

The bull... was all in tears. How did he know he was going to get killed before he entered the slaughter house? He is even smarter than people.

Mr. Shiu, a butcher recalled: "When I saw this kind of so-called "stupid" animal sobbing and with his eyes in fear and sorrow, I started trembling. I called the rest over to see.

They were just as surprised. We kept pushing the bull forward, but he just didn't want to move and sat there crying.

"Billy Fong, owner of the packaging factory said: "People thought animals didn't cry like human beings.

However that bull really sobbed like a baby. "At that time, more than ten strong men witnessed the scene and they were all touched. Those who were responsible for slaughtering even felt more touched and teared as well.

Other workers working at the same slaughter house also came to see the crying bull. It was all packed with people. They were all shock by this scene. Three of them said they would never forget this crying bull when they slaughter other animals.

With both man and animal crying, everyone knew that nobody could kill the bull. The problem was, what should they do with him? In the end, they raised funds to buy this crying bull and sent him to a temple, where the kind monks would take care of him for life. After the workers had made a decision, a miracle happened.

A worker said: "When we promised this bull that we will not kill him, he started moving and followed us.

"How did he understand people's words? Mr. Shiu said: "Believe it or not? This is real although it sounds unbelievable.

"No doubt, this bull changed these butchers' lives. Hopefully this story has in turn changed yours."

For more stories like this one go to: Natural Health Warriors

Earth. We are one.
www.ewao.net

[Diana]

This conclusion from respected scientists may dispel a lot of myths about animals and what they do and do not feel.

The "problem" with the information age is that there's so much information. There are fewer and fewer places to hide in ignorance. This correlates with the shift toward taking responsibility. The choice "not to choose" will at some point be recognized for what it is.

This is another nexus where the spiritual and the scientific converge on the same issue.

[Lycen]

Well I am happy for this development!

Thank you for sharing

[Parsons]

I just stumbled on this again. It really is rather interesting. I feel like 'modern science' is starting to slowly catch up with the nature of consciousness. It does appear that the assumption still is that consciousness is exclusively generated by the brain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_cons...sciousness

[Matt1]

Its a good movement forward, better still if we realize that plants and vegetables/fruits are conscious as well shown in the primary preception study.

[manniz]

That was such a heartwarming story. Even though, vegetarianism is a noble option, I do know of a rural group of people, who kill goats in this manner - > Before the killing, goat is brought to an open area, and given special grass with stuff that goats consider to be their treats. As the goat is happily chewing on the grass, a small prayer is said, and then in one single swoop, its neck is cut off. So, goat goes from...happy to be having treats to "hey, I'm in after-life." The cut by the sword has to be swift and heavy, so that goat dies asap.

Not perfect, but atleast better than killing animals Halal/Kosher style, or slaughter houses.

[xise]

That was such a heartwarming story. Even though, non-cannibalism is a noble option, I do know of a rural group of people, who kill children in this manner - > Before the killing, the child is brought to an open area, and given special candy with stuff that children consider to be their treats. As the child is happily chewing on the candy, a small prayer is said, and then in one single swoop, his or her neck is cut off. So, the child goes from...happy to be having treats to "hey, I'm in after-life." The cut by the sword has to be swift and heavy, so that the child dies asap.

Not perfect, but atleast better than killing children Halal/Kosher style, or slaughter houses.

That's horrible. How could you make such a comparison?