is there anything such as consciousness?

Question

are dogs and cats conscious? when we say we are conscious, do we mean that we are something that other animals are not?

Answer 1

Both huaman and cats do have conscious and the only difference is that all functions of both are the same except our souls. To be conscious is to have a mind to think and react.

Answer 2

When we say that we are conscious, we mean a few things:

a) that we are aware of our surroundings in some sense
b) that we are able to reason
c) that we are alive

Trees, for instance, are alive but not conscious. Hippies might argue but the truth of the matter is that plants don't have brains, central nervous sytems, or hearts. They are mere growths that are attracted towards life giving sources of light and water because of their chemical makeup (literally). Trees do not have the capacity to reason or be aware of their surroundings, merely react to chemical change - something that paint can also do.

Cats on the other hand have sensory input, are able to process thoughts through an ability to reason. But this processing and reasoning stops when the cat is dead.

Depending on what decision you make about whether or not humans are a kind of animal or not, you surely cannot deny that humans are mammals just like cats or dogs or lions or dolphins, etc. So yes, there is some similarity there. Domesticated cats can understand human thought processes, and humans can also understand the reasoning of cats at times too.. even if there is not a sure fire way of communicating clearly.

Why?

Because both cat and human are living creatures, aware of their surroundings (ie eachother), and can use reason to deduce why such events are unfolding in that particular way.

Eg:
A human calls to a cat, the cat _hears_ the human and _chooses_ to meow back instead of walking over because the human smells bad.


So to truely answer your question:

When we say that we are conscious, we mean that we are similar to animals - which are also conscious - but not similar to plants or wet paint.

Answer 3

Yes, we do mean that. Whereas consciousness may exist in an animal or in a person at any level within a continuum of possible degree, there are thresholds of consciousness above which activities become possible which are impossible to those below.

Compare it to the photoelectric effect. Photons of light can exist with any value of energy. But the atoms in a metal have a "work function" (an amount of energy) required for the liberation of an electron. If a photon below this threshold energy strikes the metal, nothing will happen. If a photon equal to, or above, the theshold energy strikes the metal, and electron goes free.

Likewise for consciousness. It's a function of the mind, which is an activity of the brain. The better the brain, the more complex the mind can become, and the higher can be the degree of consciousness. Since the quality of the brain is an inherited feature, race is a statistically important factor in determining the degree of consciousness.

There is a religion whose philosophy treats especially questions of consciousness, its significance, its nature, and its degrees. Research "cosmotheism."

Answer 4

Looking at the definition of consciousness from the wikipedia, I would say some animals -- especially domesticated ones -- are conscious. That is to say they have the quality of self-awareness, sentience and are able to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment.

Any pet owner could tell you their cats or dogs have feelings and communicate them. If they want to go out to play, they let you know. They also know when the owners are not happy or not feeling well.

Animals may not be as smart as adults, most of them are like toddlers at best -- when they are old enough. People who won parrots could tell you some parrots go crazy just like people would. Elephants morn for their deaths.

It is very hard to explain away those behaviors of animals when we cannot fully understand human consciousness -- despise what the bible says.

Answer 5

My consciousness is out of this world.

A word that means the same thing as consciousness is awareness or judgement. You produce consciousness to judge a particular thing or event. Otherwise how would you know anything? Just as the eyes see and the hands grab, the consciousness discerns and grabs the things you wish to analyze.

The real question is, what is the will? Considering the consciousness only comes about because you will it to be, where does the will come from? How does the will come about? The simple answer is, it comes from YOU!

Answer 6

Conscious means to be aware or to be awake so in effect dogs, cats and all other living animals including humans can be in a state of consciousness.

Except I am struggling with it a bit this morning

Answer 7

In good terms consciousness is like hallow of a candle that surrounds most living things - hallow that illuminates the conscious being and its surroundings with sensory and intuitive attention and interest.

Animals have their consciousness. They are always very well aware of their surroundings. Most predatory animals are very territorial in nature. Their awareness of danger is even sharper than us humans. The consciousness in animals however is mainly composed of their instinctual needs and responses useful towards fulfilling these needs.

Yes, we are what animals are not, or cannot be. When, for example, animals are set free from captivity they would not feel any gratitude, as they never express it. Their response to pain and torture is purely natural and instinctual. By punishment-and-reward techniques the behaviour of an animal can be modified but that then stays the same – unchangeable without external intervention. The consciousness in animals is instantaneous, without any thoughtful memory.

The consciousness in human is very different. We are not only conscious of our environment including ourselves, but we are also conscious of our own consciousness. We are self-conscious, or aware or ourselves. Our thoughts have the ability to generate reflections. And we are capable of generating many reflective thoughts at once. With an ability of self-examination, human thoughts run repetitively or cyclically – therefore the realisation of pain, pleasure and happiness. We think about our feelings, and our feelings in response generate further thoughts. This is the most important faculty that distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

The most important ability that human consciousness bestows upon us is the realisation of time passing – the time present, the future and the time past. We anticipate our future, and remember our past with a very good degree of accuracy. We do this simply by reflecting upon or own existence constantly. We can also induce a state of hyper-consciousness through contemplation and meditation. This mental state of hyper-awareness enables us to conceive symbols, concepts and ideas of metaphysical nature.

We can also become mindful of our present moment of existence. This state of mind that is beyond normal temporal existence, and can only be achieved when we are in good control of our instinctual or animalistic self – our physical needs and urges. This is common practice in mystical deceplines where it serves the purpose of reaching heightened states of self-awareness. At this level we can understand better and deeper meanings of our life, and our entire existence. This is where the definition of consciousness at the beginning of my answer applies to its best.

Answer 8

Man is differentiated from animals because of the sixth sense, the inner voice or conscience. When you are worried having thought that you have committed some wrong, and you are not able to share with anyone, you will be hearing the inner voice more often than other times. Naturally it has been the higher pedastal and the human being gets that, the conscience. However the present day modern world with all the stress, even this is a casuality, as people have started mentioning conscience of convenience and conscience of conviction.
VR

Answer 9

Animals are obviously aware, they have awareness and they seem to live in a harmony with their environment.
Humans are aware that they are aware, animals lack this capacity.
Consciousness is an awkward word and often used these days. Being conscious would therefore indicate awareness in different degrees. Would you say silliness instead of silly?
Proprioception covers it all.

Answer 10

we can't say they are concious any more than we can say that other humans are. It is all divined by observation of some sort. But I like to think so. I'm sure of it, in fact. Although I think that all life forms are concious, and that even inanimate objects are to some degree. They just do not have minds like we do. Human minds are something special, a tool that is truly a gift (which many fail to develop and use). The mind should not be confused with experience in the universe.