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Chapter 9

Consciousness You probably assume that you are conscious and deduce the mental life and consciousness of other people based on your own experience. But how can you know whether other species are conscious? Can animals of other species also be aware of their thoughts and feelings? Can they know that other beings have thoughts and feelings? Or could it be that animals are unconscious sleepwalkers with no mental awareness?

The question of consciousness is fundamental to animal rights. We should not use/abuse animals (factory farming, fur farming, etc) if animals are conscious like humans. If animals are not conscious, like sticks and stones, then there is less moral scruple about how we should treat them, and for some people no scruple at all. From a scientific perspective, a full appreciation of animals must include understanding what and how they think and feel - assuming they think and feel anything.

Other than the mirror test (see entry Mirror Test), which is not unquestionably dependable, there is yet no scientific procedure that can establish whether an animal is conscious. So the question of whether animals are conscious remains largely philosophical, although science is beginning to make a little headway into animal consciousness (see entry Behaviourism).

Two Philosophical Views

There are broadly two views of consciousness.

Epiphenomenal: consciousness is merely a consequence of how the brain works and as such has no function. If this is true then consciousness will make no difference to behaviour. Conscious and non-conscious animals will do things equally well.

Functional: consciousness enables an animal to survive and reproduce better and thus has a function. In this view natural selection can act on consciousness so that consciousness evolves and is passed on to successive generations.

Kinds of Consciousness

We all use the terms 'conscious' and 'consciousness' in many different ways. One meaning of conscious is being awake and not asleep. There is no doubt that animals in this sense are conscious. But two kinds of animal consciousness are contentious: primary consciousness and secondary consciousness. When discussing animal consciousness it is useful to avoid confusion by knowing which kind of consciousness speakers have in mind.

Primary consciousness encompasses being aware of basic feelings (body position, hunger, fear, fatigue, pain) and happenings in your environment (someone calling you, approaching predators). Another name for primary consciousness is phenomenal consciousness, because it is about the perception of phenomena. Responding to basic feelings and happenings does not necessarily mean you are also aware of them. A robot responds to stimuli but is not mentally aware of them. Responding and being aware of responding are separate things.

Secondary consciousness covers being aware of consciousness itself, consciously thinking about consciousness. Not only do humans think about things, we think about thinking, and we think about the thoughts and feelings of others. We are self-aware. Another name for secondary consciousness is self-consciousness.

Many animal species probably have at least some form or degree of primary consciousness. People generally believe that primary consciousness is likely in mammals and birds, more vague in reptiles, amphibians and fish, and doubtful in insects and other invertebrates (the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris is an unusual exception). The extent to which animals experience secondary consciousness, if at all, is the really big mystery.

Functions of Consciousness

We do not need consciousness for most activities, even very complicated ones. An animal or human receiving a painful stimulus will try to escape it, but this does not prove they are conscious; you can instruct a robot to do likewise. It is the same with cerebral tasks such as telling like from unlike objects; even a computer with the right program will do it. We carry out many daily tasks with no conscious awareness of doing them. Calculating the speed of approaching motor traffic when crossing a road is an unconscious computation. Doing things fast, like catching a ball or playing a musical instrument, are not under conscious control. If we stopped to think about doing them while doing them, consciousness would drag like an anchor restraining our movements.

So why be conscious? Scientists speculate that consciousness has a function and some scientists argue that it enables you to behave more flexibly than if you went without it. When faced with a complicated predicament, making a conscious decision about what you should do based on your assessment of the situation has a greater likelihood of a successful outcome than if you were programmed to react unconsciously - instinctively - to all possible combinations of situations you might come across.

How might you make a conscious decision about a situation? You could imagine the likely outcome of various scenarios then act according to the best one. This is what scientists speculate consciousness does. Consciousness is ideal for tackling unusual or complicated situations. A conscious animal can see more potential solutions to problems and plan ahead. This is especially advantageous for animals who live highly social lives, like apes, dolphins and wolves. Consciousness enables them to handle complex social interactions by imagining how members of their social group are likely to act.

Conscious in Animals

Neurones in humans and many other animal species derive from the same basic components and function in much the same way. Given this, it is reasonable to believe that consciousness in some degree and form may be widespread in the animal world. Furthermore, some researchers venture that consciousness may come in minute chunks rather than be an all-or-nothing allotment, like humans have it and animals do not. Individuals and species seem to have a chunky consciousness. An adult has more chunks than a youngster, who has more chunks than a baby. Chimpanzees may have more chunks than cats, who may have more chunks than shrews. In this way animal consciousness gradually come forth within individuals and across species.

Beam Me Up

Not too long ago people thought consciousness resided in the soul. Today we are more likely to say it is inside your head. The brain is a physical object, so consciousness has a physical substrate and is therefore a physical object itself. We can transport physical objects. Thus one day people might send consciousness along telephone wires or beam it to the moon and reflect it back again. Its present mystery lies in our lack of understanding it.

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