>>36 I find it hard to believe that they don't have some form of consciousness. This might just be pure sophistry, but when I look into an animal's eyes, I see always see something looking back at me. Curiosity, fear, worry, I'd say that most of the feelings that animals have are negative ones, especially wild animals, but that doesn't dilute the fact that they have those feelings. A predator on the verge of starvation will go against instinct and desperately attack something they know they can't fight, just for a chance at a meal. A prey on the verge of death will still try to fatally wound the predator, making it a pyrrhic last meal. I don't think they view the world anywhere near us, with heightened levels of thought, but they are present in the world and conscious, that's what I believe.

the problem with this question from a materialistic standpoint is we aren't fully sure how the consciousness came to be. like, the scientific community isn't sure how or why humans developed a conscious. my guess would be animals lack the sophisticated level of abstract thinking we do. consciousness requires awareness of one's self, their place in the world around them, and their needs/emotions in a way that animals lacking human intellect cant fully emulate.

>>36 humans are not "technically" animals we are animals. if we have it then they have it too if we don't have it then they don't since we are essentially the same thing i also believe that pmuch everything living has consciousness because the idea that a plankton has it but bacteria doesnt is just too damn stupid a better question is why do you presuppose that animals might not have it? why do you assume that we have it? its about time we grow out of the 4k year old religious propaganda that we are higher than animals and we are gods special little kids

>>54 Religious comments aside, we literally are higher than other animals and we are special. We are the only animals on Earth capable of this level of thought and articulation. Some animals are smarter than others. It's very arguable that many animals do have rudimentary consciousness, likely comparable to a gradient of complexity, and the line between having and not having consciousness isn't cut and dry. But at the end of the day we are the most intelligent species on Earth by a LONG shot and no other animal is comparable. That makes us special and in some regards "above" other animals. >the idea that plankton have it but bacteria doesn't is just too damn stupid Yeah because that is stupid, neither of them do. >its about time we grow out of the 4k year old religious propaganda that we are higher than animals and we are gods special little kids God wants us to be the stewards of the Earth, our job (which we are pretty shit at) is to care for the Earth and its inhabitants as everything is His creation including ourselves.

>>55 can you rigorously prove anything you said? people believe the idea of human exceptional because they like it not because anyone knows anything about it >We are the only animals on Earth capable of this level of thought and articulation. how do you know that? do you know what a whale thinks? do you know what you mom thinks? does she even think? >Some animals are smarter than others how do you know that? has anyone ever developed a cross species "smartness" testing system? >It's very arguable that many animals do have rudimentary consciousness, likely comparable to a gradient of complexity, and the line between having and not having consciousness isn't cut and dry. how do you know that? what kind of tools or instruments or methods do we have that we can use to measure "consciousness"? >But at the end of the day we are the most intelligent species on Earth by a LONG shot and no other animal is comparable. again how do you know that? dolphins brains are bigger than ours what if they are actually smarter? >That makes us special and in some regards "above" other animals. we are special coz we are the only "we" we know of but "above"? i dont know about that.