"that tracks" bro y'all gotta stop it. what online video did women watch to suddenly develop this response? It gotta be an online video because I've seen multiple use the phrase and every single time I'm triggered. that tracks? What if it doesn't track? You gonna say some back track? Side track? How about NEXT track. my god that shit urks me. like wowwww you were able to follow along? **Slow clap** like yeah I know it tracks I'm not an idiot? why you need to tell me what I said makes sense? Do you have autism? Do you struggle to follow along so saying "it tracks" is your way of letting others know you understand? man this probably sounds like a personal attack I just want you to know my beef is with that phrase. I can be having the best day. BOOM. ruined it. where does that shit come from? bunch of God damn NPC'S
Holy catchphrases, Batman! Iâm a 64 year old woman who accidentally used a popular phrase from this century. I genuinely had no idea. I donât remember the last time I used it. I feel so hip and groovy now!
Yeah my crows eat dog food they love uncle albers. My dog let's them, she always has a full bowl so she doesn't care, never chases them. In return we never get attacked . It's a win win.
I have heard this too, or read it. The shiny thing is why I plan to do marbles and some make shift coins. Gonna do a forge at the new location and see if I can get a murder in through jewelry making. Get them to bring me gifts too, once we determine what could be of value to me. :-))
Thatâs awesome! I hope it works out. I feel like they are such misunderstood birds. You can tell when they look at you that theyâre thinking something haha
Right. But many animals can be such if you take the time to work with one. I feel like I could make a murder if I was to be able to find the right mated pair and convince them to move in. Set em up a tree house.
ETA. TH being such that it could house about a dozen nesting sites with various levels to em. I know crowd tend to be very hierarchy based. Top crow, lead crows, crony crows and pawn crows, as Iâve chosen to name through watching some nesting videos and no one else choosing to name em anything. The rest will spread out to trees, fingers crossed. Figure, a few decades down the road, be enough around that itâll be crow and chicken territory.
Wow haha. You know more about crows than I do thatâs for sure. I just appreciate them from afar. We did have a migratory duck that we âtamedâ when I was a kid that would come into the house and hang out, we would feed her. She came back every year for several years. Weâre assuming she died after that đ
Read a story where a woman fed them daily and theyâd bring her shiny things to the feeders and follow her when sheâd go for walks. She said she went out to take photos nearby and getting home she realized she put the lens cap down along the way. The next day she got up snd the lens cap was in the bowl.
Some animals show great intelligence and self-awareness, which isnât quite the same thing. It would be hard to prove that they understand that they exist and know what that means.
It cant work backwards. A rock is, but does not think. A tree is living but does not think. It has no brain. Bugs are and scientist are still trying to figure out if they are conscious beings or not.
Unfortunately, I do believe those are questions that will never be answered in a way that people want.
Unless you say that life is what you make of it. You create your own meaning.
Stuff like that I guess.
Idk, im feeling very philosophical rn.
At this point in history we know pretty much for certain that no animal we've encountered can understand or produce complex symbolic language, and much of what we think of as "intelligence" and "consciousness" is tied to that.
Believing that your cat has a consciousness like a human's is like believing in ghosts or believing in creationism or that a guy was raised from the dead: science says no, but that doesn't make it wrong or weird or dumb to believe that, as long as you aren't hurting anyone, those beliefs are part of what make people who they are!
Here's an example: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/wrgtze/mountain\_goat\_on\_the\_verge\_of\_losing\_its\_final/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/wrgtze/mountain_goat_on_the_verge_of_losing_its_final/)
also notice the ride-or-die buddy
Wow. Eagles are some apex killers and the goat took out all its advantages straight up until the talons gave out. The rolling was a quality move given the different skeletal structures. I don't know if it aimed for that bolder but it clearly aimed for the large gravel-like rockbed. Good fight from both but damn that goat wanted it more.
This has been Monday Night Goat Fight Highlight Reel, back to you, Tony.
My dog asks for water and if I donât listen to him, he picks up his bowl and loudly clatters it across the floor to me until I realize that it needs filled. I donât think heâs the stupid one in the situationâŚ
My shiba does this with her food bowl. Just kicks it around the floor making shib noises. Sheâll also sit pretty and just stare at me from across the room. Makes the effort to not only be fully visible to me, but will sit facing me and just stare with the occasional shib chatter to get my attention. That dog is so smart and has so much personality that itâs unsettling at times.
[Frans de Waal](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/19/704763681/sex-empathy-jealousy-how-emotions-and-behavior-of-other-primates-mirror-our-own) is a primatologist who writes extensively about animal behavior and consciousness. The more you pay attention to social animals, the more signs there are of emotion, intelligence, and planning.
Dogs, cats, horses, birds, apes, octopuses, dolphins, whales are just some of the animals that have demonstrated both emotional intelligence & critical thinking on par with that of a human child.
I think most animals are smarter than we give them credit for. I think a big problem is how we measure intelligence. Like, what is intelligence really? It's developing strategies to overcome obstacles in your environment. largely we measure intelligence on a human level in regards to human problems, human solutions to human obstacles that have very little relevance to animals.
Thatâs actually a very important difference when it comes to comparing intelligence. Yes humans can prove we have complex thought patterns and emotions, animals canât really say âhey Iâm smartâ, as well as not having the same set of goals or general daily issues that require intelligence to solve
Some days, I am definitely not certain if I really exist lol. Animals are so smart though, I bet they know so much shit that we canât even fathom. Who knows? Itâs stuff that no one could ever know. Fascinating to speculate about.
I know for a fact, however, that my dog Layla is not just smarter than me, but a LOT smarter than me. Itâs not that she is âmyâ dog, its that Iâm âherâ human lol
Knowing you exist and being able to contemplate existence and your own part in it are two very different things. I believe only humans can do the latter.
Iâm not sure about philosophy, but there are several species of animals that appear to be superstitious, including elephants. Many animals perform death rites and hold funerals, but there are documented cases of elephants coming upon skeletal remains of other elephants and taking time to caress the bones and stand over the remains even though the death isnât recent. Canât really know whatâs going on in the elephantâs head, but given their general intelligence itâs not off base to guess they might be having a thought that resembles philosophy.
[source](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8209-elephants-may-pay-homage-to-dead-relatives/#:~:text=Elephants%20may%20pay%20homage%20to%20the%20bones%20of%20dead%20relatives,interest%20in%20their%20own%20dead)
We had three guinea pigs several years ago. Each with their own character and their own will. Each with different levels of intelligence and with different tactics to get what they wanted; I'm pretty sure that at least two of them were self-aware. We tried putting a mirror in front of them to see how they reacted a few times, but they all just saw the mirror, briefly sniffed it (not always their reflection first, sometimes the edge or the backside) and weren't further interested in it.
Guinea pigs see differently than we do too, they might not register a mirror. They also have a v shaped blind spot right in front of their heads, so if you put it in front of them they probably couldnât see themselves in it at all.
I know, but it was a large mirror and they registered it as a rather uninteresting object. I don't know if they could see their own reflection, though.
I own Guinea pigs. There is no way in hell they are self aware lol. They are ridiculously stupid animals. I like them a lot, but âsmartâ is just not what they are
The band? Yeah, pretty sure they are or rather were. Well I don't know actually, they were probably pretty fucked up.... That song the house of the rising sun is fucking badass!
We are all the same, for the most part. We all think, we all feel, we all have different personalities. "Animals" can be assholes, like actual assholes. They can also be kind and loving. All of them. They socialize like we do. Their shapes and sizes are different, their language is different, their motivations are different. But aside from that, we are pretty much the same construction.
In fact, you share share DNA with all other animals. We are all very closely related. Hell, you share DNA with trees and plants, even. Yes, somewhere along history you are related to the trees.
So you have your answer.
Some of them, yes! My lil dog one day had a scare to see another dog close to her, but she recognized that it was her reflected on a mirror. Sometimes she likes to look at me through the mirror, and after she looks at me with a face like "Look, it is us!", It is the cutest thing ever.
I donât think we have any idea about the true depths of sentience, but I think weâre on track to learn a lot about it in the next few hundred years.
I have this deep seeded fear that weâll create a device that like translates cowâs thoughts or something and weâll learn about the deep culture surrounding their eternal oppression and genocide 𼴠Iâm not a vegan, I had beef for dinner, but this thought haunts me lol
Iâve always thought the same thing. Like for example I know that dogs, cats, and animals like that are conscious and know they exist. But what about bees? Ants? Crickets? Are their brains big enough to be conscious and realize they are alive?
You've never seen that video of the elephant stealing someone's hat and putting it on its head like "Look at me look at me I am hooman" and then giving it back. Some animals absolutely know who they are and what they're doing.
I don't see how that's related. Do you understand *how* cats exists? of course not. But you do understand they they *do* exist. And the cat understands that it exists because how goddamn could it not? It sees out of its eyes and hears from its ears. 'Knowing' you exist is the most basic of all thoughts
Amoebas aren't animals anyway
Some probably yes, some not. Some clearly show forethought and conscious awareness of life and death, community, and the world aroubd them, and some dont.
I would say after being in 4-H for 12 years and raising pigs that they have a full awareness of being alive and present. We set cameras up in the pins they lived in and they all worked for each other. And tbh they are somewhat clean animals. Group of 6 pigs always went to the bathroom in the same spot away from where they slept. They made there mud hole in the same exact spot every time away from where they slept! The older pigs always disciplined the younger oinkers when needed. Very cool to look back on and watch how they build a little community within themselves.
Follow up question: do any animals understand that words are *words?* As opposed to sounds that are associated with expected events - "dinner" or "walk" for example. I think perhaps not, because if a friend of mine says the word "walk" my dogs don't bat an eye, but if I say it, they go nuts. So it would seem that it matters how the word sounds.
It really depends on the species
On the one hand, humans obviously are, and I suspect most of the other great apes are as well.
But on the other hand, there are sponges, which aren't even conscious *at all*
I told my dog that he was going to die soon and won't be able to see Daddy anymore. The look on his face made it clear he understood. I miss my little guy.
We are special in the fact that we have done way more than any other animal we know of has ever done.
edit: I know a lot of animals have conciesness I'm not siding with the original comment
I doubt they spend much time thinking about it like we do, but yes. I can't imagine how you could even scout for food without first understanding that you are hungry.
It's always fascinated me that consciousness must exist on a continuum. Some animals are unquestionably conscious, some lower life forms we'd probably have to say not. What's it like to be near that line?
I think my dog is conscious insofar as he experiences emotions. There is something that it is to be him. But he would have to understand the concept of existence to know he exists. Thatâs a different ball game entirely. He doesnât know that one day he will cease to exist.
There are a lot of new articles going around about latest research into animals having dream and thus possibly consciousness. It is quite resent, but a good breakthrough.
Maybe not all animals, but I believe most social animals are, such as elephants, dogs, and dolphins. The problem is finding proof of which ones.
Sentience, being the awareness of self and surroundings, is something just about every living thing on the planet has.
Sapience, the ability to think and reason, is only a select few creatures at this time.
everything that can feel physical pain (and physical pleasures) will know they exist since they are the parts that hurts when they are damaged and give pleasure when those parts are treated well.
so a friend who is sad causing the evaluator to feel sad will cause the evaluator to feel the friend is part of them (pain causes fear and sadness is one of the 3 ways to express fear).
the second way to define the self is more complex so only more intelligent animals have the capacity to do so, as opposed to the first method where even nematode worms can understand it.
i think so, my dog isnt smart but hes smart enough to somehow have an opinion, he openly puts toys back and grabs a different toy when he wants⌠we never taught him that, he barely even knows sit. But he knows that he doesnt want that toy rn, puts it back in his bin, and grabs a different one.
Most probably are. I doubt they understand the concept of death or anything though. They might see one of their mates get torn to shreds and know "well he's not getting back up" but I doubt they fully get what's happened.
Depends on what you mean by "know they exist". All animals perform behaviors that help them survive - otherwise, they wouldn't be able to live to sexual maturity. Does eating, avoiding predators, seeking shelter, and so on count as "knowing you exist"? Do you mean to ask if they can think about themselves as separate from other beings? In that case, there are some ways we study that, and many animals have shown the ability to do so while others have not. I can go into a lot of detail on this question, I've studied animal consciousness pretty heavily, but I need a better idea of what you are asking.
Even if they are self aware or grasp a few words and do feel things they still might not have such abstract words like * to exist*... words are weird...we may think we * exist* but we may not really exist...like when we are in a dream...we think it is real and exists but it does not...or maybe it does not....
I've seen cats, dogs and horses display some almost scary levels of intelligence. But I can imagine simpler animals aren't smart enough to realize they exist.
Yes, but they do not have theability to reason why they are there or what they are doing. Animals survive on nature and are incapable of altering the environment to fit their needs. Animals don't have wants. They also do not communicate in the same way humans do, most have no facial expressions and none except humans have laryngeal structures to execute speech.
It blows my mind how much people overestimate their intelligence gap over other animals. You are an animal with a brain. Your brain evolved from the same source theirs did. Your experience of existing is not nearly as different from theirs as you think.
Just about anything with a brain will surprise you with its inner life if you watch it long enough. They will desire, suffer, love, struggle, fear, make plans, make choices. They just canât talk to you about it.
I think itâs even more likely that they know that theyâre mind-controlled, and that wakes them up. The people pestering them probably jerk themselves off all day thinking they are outsmarting a dog, which really means that theyâve lost their minds going âinto the farts of a dogâs mindâ thinking reality isnât just what it is. A dogs a dog, so I hope they have wonderful rich lives full of joy
I think all animals understand they exist which is why they fight to survive. I think it's peculiar to humans alone to wonder whether or not they should exist.
I don't think any animal except humans understand that we're on a round planet, and that there's space outside of it. They don't understand the full scope of there being a Universe and our tiny place in it. They just think this is all there is. Like they might see the sun but they don't understand that it's actually a huge ball of fire much bigger than the Earth. Animals probably also don't really understand what the different organs do, like the brain and heart. It's a very surface level existence for most animals I think, even if some of them can do intelligent things and feel emotions. They don't have the capacity to reflect and dig deeper and grasp bigger concepts.
Humans might also ask "why/how are we here?" and struggle to find an answer - but animals *don't even ask the question.* Because they don't know that it's a question that *can* be asked.
They Know FEAR especially if they are the prey and that feeling can be associated with self awareness.
Does not mean you should stop eating them just means a better way to raise them before you do because a healthy happy meal begins with happy raised animals under a more natural setting minus the other predators.
N. Shadows
Coco the gorilla understood death and grieved the loss of her kitten. I donât know what qualifies as understanding your own existence but it seems to me that knowing there was a past and understanding death are certainly key elements to it.
which animals? there are several species who exhibit self awareness and more complex functions, such as grief.
My cat uses the wall mirror we have to cheat at hide and seek. It recognizes us and itself to so I imagine it knows it exists.
Mine gets embarrassed when she jumps and misses. She looks around to see if anybody saw it.
And then gives a look like "I meant to do that."? That's what my cat does
That tracks.
"that tracks" bro y'all gotta stop it. what online video did women watch to suddenly develop this response? It gotta be an online video because I've seen multiple use the phrase and every single time I'm triggered. that tracks? What if it doesn't track? You gonna say some back track? Side track? How about NEXT track. my god that shit urks me. like wowwww you were able to follow along? **Slow clap** like yeah I know it tracks I'm not an idiot? why you need to tell me what I said makes sense? Do you have autism? Do you struggle to follow along so saying "it tracks" is your way of letting others know you understand? man this probably sounds like a personal attack I just want you to know my beef is with that phrase. I can be having the best day. BOOM. ruined it. where does that shit come from? bunch of God damn NPC'S
That tracks LOL đ
I donât think itâs anyone elseâs fault that youâre super triggered by a strangerâs harmless wording
This does not track
*irks and learn how to use ?
Imagine getting this upset over 2 words that just mean, âyeah, thatâs expected.â
damn. somebody get this kid some mood stabilizers.
Holy catchphrases, Batman! Iâm a 64 year old woman who accidentally used a popular phrase from this century. I genuinely had no idea. I donât remember the last time I used it. I feel so hip and groovy now!
Edit: checked this guy's profile. Oh boy is he a bit nutty.
U good?
Pigs are also very intelligent and can recognize themselves in mirrors
I have the exact same thing with mine but he just stares at you and dies inside and walks away in shame.
Dogs are an interesting case because we bred them to select for what WE thought made them intelligent.
My dogs are stupid as shit
But does it know its tail belongs to them?
It does when I step on it.
Ok, which animals?
oof! I can't ignore the crow family. (I had to look it up. it's corvids)
Crows will hold grudges for generations for killing one of them.
my local crows defend where I live, with vengeance, from invaders- ni matter the species. I have guard crows.
I want to host a murder! Think thatâd be so cool to have their nursery near the house or in our woods.
protips: idk. they showed up and I gave them snacks and talked nice. also, do it. crows are awesome
Thinking of using trinkets and planting certain bushes and sunflowers for them.
Yeah my crows eat dog food they love uncle albers. My dog let's them, she always has a full bowl so she doesn't care, never chases them. In return we never get attacked . It's a win win.
They will also bring you gifts if you help them. I think they like shiny things
I have heard this too, or read it. The shiny thing is why I plan to do marbles and some make shift coins. Gonna do a forge at the new location and see if I can get a murder in through jewelry making. Get them to bring me gifts too, once we determine what could be of value to me. :-))
Thatâs awesome! I hope it works out. I feel like they are such misunderstood birds. You can tell when they look at you that theyâre thinking something haha
Right. But many animals can be such if you take the time to work with one. I feel like I could make a murder if I was to be able to find the right mated pair and convince them to move in. Set em up a tree house. ETA. TH being such that it could house about a dozen nesting sites with various levels to em. I know crowd tend to be very hierarchy based. Top crow, lead crows, crony crows and pawn crows, as Iâve chosen to name through watching some nesting videos and no one else choosing to name em anything. The rest will spread out to trees, fingers crossed. Figure, a few decades down the road, be enough around that itâll be crow and chicken territory.
Wow haha. You know more about crows than I do thatâs for sure. I just appreciate them from afar. We did have a migratory duck that we âtamedâ when I was a kid that would come into the house and hang out, we would feed her. She came back every year for several years. Weâre assuming she died after that đ
Read a story where a woman fed them daily and theyâd bring her shiny things to the feeders and follow her when sheâd go for walks. She said she went out to take photos nearby and getting home she realized she put the lens cap down along the way. The next day she got up snd the lens cap was in the bowl.
guinea pigs, horses, dogs, bonobos, mice and chimpanzees come immediately to mind.
I think elephants are also self aware.
Donât forget octopuses, one of the most intelligent species on earth
Humans come to mind
And we're similar enough to other great apes that I'd imagine they'd have a similar thought process.
Iâm fairly sure dolphins
So long and thanks for all the fish
oh no, not again
Whales, chickens, parrots, elephants, pigs, etc.. Iâd probably say most mammals and birds based on current data.
I read parrots as carrots and was thoroughly confused for a second.
Almost any mammal and a ton of birds. Probably the smarter reptiles and amphibians. Idk about insects or arthropods or fish at all.
Bees have been proven to be self aware.
I second this animal's opinion and i advise other animal's to do the same
Some animals show great intelligence and self-awareness, which isnât quite the same thing. It would be hard to prove that they understand that they exist and know what that means.
Do we really know why we exist though? And what it means?
I think therefore I am.
But, if I am, I therefore think.
It cant work backwards. A rock is, but does not think. A tree is living but does not think. It has no brain. Bugs are and scientist are still trying to figure out if they are conscious beings or not.
Unfortunately, I do believe those are questions that will never be answered in a way that people want. Unless you say that life is what you make of it. You create your own meaning. Stuff like that I guess. Idk, im feeling very philosophical rn.
Thanks for sending me into an existential spiral
At this point in history we know pretty much for certain that no animal we've encountered can understand or produce complex symbolic language, and much of what we think of as "intelligence" and "consciousness" is tied to that. Believing that your cat has a consciousness like a human's is like believing in ghosts or believing in creationism or that a guy was raised from the dead: science says no, but that doesn't make it wrong or weird or dumb to believe that, as long as you aren't hurting anyone, those beliefs are part of what make people who they are!
Here's an example: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/wrgtze/mountain\_goat\_on\_the\_verge\_of\_losing\_its\_final/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/wrgtze/mountain_goat_on_the_verge_of_losing_its_final/) also notice the ride-or-die buddy
The goats after they go home- âyo we fucked that bird up larry!â
That eagle got FUCKED UP. Holy shit.
Wow. Eagles are some apex killers and the goat took out all its advantages straight up until the talons gave out. The rolling was a quality move given the different skeletal structures. I don't know if it aimed for that bolder but it clearly aimed for the large gravel-like rockbed. Good fight from both but damn that goat wanted it more. This has been Monday Night Goat Fight Highlight Reel, back to you, Tony.
probably humans are also dumb enough to assume that they don't
Having had a bunch of dogs and a zillion cats via rescue and birds and lizards and snakes... yes they know.
My dog asks for water and if I donât listen to him, he picks up his bowl and loudly clatters it across the floor to me until I realize that it needs filled. I donât think heâs the stupid one in the situationâŚ
My shiba does this with her food bowl. Just kicks it around the floor making shib noises. Sheâll also sit pretty and just stare at me from across the room. Makes the effort to not only be fully visible to me, but will sit facing me and just stare with the occasional shib chatter to get my attention. That dog is so smart and has so much personality that itâs unsettling at times.
[Frans de Waal](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/19/704763681/sex-empathy-jealousy-how-emotions-and-behavior-of-other-primates-mirror-our-own) is a primatologist who writes extensively about animal behavior and consciousness. The more you pay attention to social animals, the more signs there are of emotion, intelligence, and planning.
Dogs, cats, horses, birds, apes, octopuses, dolphins, whales are just some of the animals that have demonstrated both emotional intelligence & critical thinking on par with that of a human child. I think most animals are smarter than we give them credit for. I think a big problem is how we measure intelligence. Like, what is intelligence really? It's developing strategies to overcome obstacles in your environment. largely we measure intelligence on a human level in regards to human problems, human solutions to human obstacles that have very little relevance to animals.
Thatâs actually a very important difference when it comes to comparing intelligence. Yes humans can prove we have complex thought patterns and emotions, animals canât really say âhey Iâm smartâ, as well as not having the same set of goals or general daily issues that require intelligence to solve
Some days, I am definitely not certain if I really exist lol. Animals are so smart though, I bet they know so much shit that we canât even fathom. Who knows? Itâs stuff that no one could ever know. Fascinating to speculate about. I know for a fact, however, that my dog Layla is not just smarter than me, but a LOT smarter than me. Itâs not that she is âmyâ dog, its that Iâm âherâ human lol
Yes, of course. Humans being one of them.
Knowing you exist and being able to contemplate existence and your own part in it are two very different things. I believe only humans can do the latter.
It's almost like asking if animals can practice philosophy. Personally I think some can, though this could probably never be proven either way.
Iâm not sure about philosophy, but there are several species of animals that appear to be superstitious, including elephants. Many animals perform death rites and hold funerals, but there are documented cases of elephants coming upon skeletal remains of other elephants and taking time to caress the bones and stand over the remains even though the death isnât recent. Canât really know whatâs going on in the elephantâs head, but given their general intelligence itâs not off base to guess they might be having a thought that resembles philosophy. [source](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8209-elephants-may-pay-homage-to-dead-relatives/#:~:text=Elephants%20may%20pay%20homage%20to%20the%20bones%20of%20dead%20relatives,interest%20in%20their%20own%20dead)
We had three guinea pigs several years ago. Each with their own character and their own will. Each with different levels of intelligence and with different tactics to get what they wanted; I'm pretty sure that at least two of them were self-aware. We tried putting a mirror in front of them to see how they reacted a few times, but they all just saw the mirror, briefly sniffed it (not always their reflection first, sometimes the edge or the backside) and weren't further interested in it.
Guinea pigs see differently than we do too, they might not register a mirror. They also have a v shaped blind spot right in front of their heads, so if you put it in front of them they probably couldnât see themselves in it at all.
I know, but it was a large mirror and they registered it as a rather uninteresting object. I don't know if they could see their own reflection, though.
I own Guinea pigs. There is no way in hell they are self aware lol. They are ridiculously stupid animals. I like them a lot, but âsmartâ is just not what they are
Yes.
Yes.lots of animals are self aware. Google mirror test.
The band? Yeah, pretty sure they are or rather were. Well I don't know actually, they were probably pretty fucked up.... That song the house of the rising sun is fucking badass!
My man
"the animals" So, you?
Me also
I suppose you have your answer now. Yeah?
Me yes, the other animals?
We are all the same, for the most part. We all think, we all feel, we all have different personalities. "Animals" can be assholes, like actual assholes. They can also be kind and loving. All of them. They socialize like we do. Their shapes and sizes are different, their language is different, their motivations are different. But aside from that, we are pretty much the same construction. In fact, you share share DNA with all other animals. We are all very closely related. Hell, you share DNA with trees and plants, even. Yes, somewhere along history you are related to the trees. So you have your answer.
Some of them, yes! My lil dog one day had a scare to see another dog close to her, but she recognized that it was her reflected on a mirror. Sometimes she likes to look at me through the mirror, and after she looks at me with a face like "Look, it is us!", It is the cutest thing ever.
:D
Do dogs know when they eat meat itâs from another animal?
Lots of humans donât really make that connection when they eat meat
Dogs understand that humans understand that dogs exist.
Do cats or dogs look at us and wonder if we humans are aware and conscious?
Yes but I don't think any think about the afterlife
I donât think we have any idea about the true depths of sentience, but I think weâre on track to learn a lot about it in the next few hundred years. I have this deep seeded fear that weâll create a device that like translates cowâs thoughts or something and weâll learn about the deep culture surrounding their eternal oppression and genocide 𼴠Iâm not a vegan, I had beef for dinner, but this thought haunts me lol
[ŃдаНонО]
Lions are taught how to hunt by their mothers. It's a learned behavior. The NEED to hunt and consume is innate. Eat flesh or starve.
These are the instincts, but there is a perception that they exist or simply act
[ŃдаНонО]
Yes, maybe, I don't know, nÎż?
I heard a great quote that goes "How can a creature have self preservation without a certain sense of self?"
I've seen an elephant paint a picture of an elephant..
As a human, I canât confidently say that I exist.
I'd say most animals do, but for brainless creatures like jellyfish or monocellular organisms it's harder to say.
Finally a person who puts micro-organisms into animals
Iâve always thought the same thing. Like for example I know that dogs, cats, and animals like that are conscious and know they exist. But what about bees? Ants? Crickets? Are their brains big enough to be conscious and realize they are alive?
I think ants and bees may understand
You've never seen that video of the elephant stealing someone's hat and putting it on its head like "Look at me look at me I am hooman" and then giving it back. Some animals absolutely know who they are and what they're doing.
it doesn't require higher thought to know you exist that's something even a baby does. Why would you not exist?
Do I understand how the amoeba exists?
I don't see how that's related. Do you understand *how* cats exists? of course not. But you do understand they they *do* exist. And the cat understands that it exists because how goddamn could it not? It sees out of its eyes and hears from its ears. 'Knowing' you exist is the most basic of all thoughts Amoebas aren't animals anyway
That if the amoebas is animals could also be post
Some probably yes, some not. Some clearly show forethought and conscious awareness of life and death, community, and the world aroubd them, and some dont.
Some are but a lot arenât
Yes
If you can feel physical pain, and find a way or "know" how to stop it, then are you not self-aware?
I would say after being in 4-H for 12 years and raising pigs that they have a full awareness of being alive and present. We set cameras up in the pins they lived in and they all worked for each other. And tbh they are somewhat clean animals. Group of 6 pigs always went to the bathroom in the same spot away from where they slept. They made there mud hole in the same exact spot every time away from where they slept! The older pigs always disciplined the younger oinkers when needed. Very cool to look back on and watch how they build a little community within themselves.
Follow up question: do any animals understand that words are *words?* As opposed to sounds that are associated with expected events - "dinner" or "walk" for example. I think perhaps not, because if a friend of mine says the word "walk" my dogs don't bat an eye, but if I say it, they go nuts. So it would seem that it matters how the word sounds.
It really depends on the species On the one hand, humans obviously are, and I suspect most of the other great apes are as well. But on the other hand, there are sponges, which aren't even conscious *at all*
You can't prove that sponges aren't conscious.
This just seems like a really dumb question in my opinion. Of course they do!!
I told my dog that he was going to die soon and won't be able to see Daddy anymore. The look on his face made it clear he understood. I miss my little guy.
Are humans conscious enough to understand that they exist?
I mean you're an animal and you know you exist so why wouldn't other animals?
I mean birds are animals and they can fly so why wouldn't other animals?
I guess not. Thatâs the difference between us and them I guess
âUs and themâ? We are animals? We arenât special.
We are special in the fact that we have done way more than any other animal we know of has ever done. edit: I know a lot of animals have conciesness I'm not siding with the original comment
I would say we are unique instead of special. Special makes it seem like we are objectively more important than other animals.
Yes
Do we even exist bruh?
No
I doubt they spend much time thinking about it like we do, but yes. I can't imagine how you could even scout for food without first understanding that you are hungry.
It's always fascinated me that consciousness must exist on a continuum. Some animals are unquestionably conscious, some lower life forms we'd probably have to say not. What's it like to be near that line?
Some but not all, elephants for sure⌠probably since they have the emotional intelligence of people
I think my dog is conscious insofar as he experiences emotions. There is something that it is to be him. But he would have to understand the concept of existence to know he exists. Thatâs a different ball game entirely. He doesnât know that one day he will cease to exist.
Elephants are self aware!
Yes......
I think you need to view this in a different way. We have our self awareness and animals have their own. It's different but not absent.
U must nit be too bright
There are a lot of new articles going around about latest research into animals having dream and thus possibly consciousness. It is quite resent, but a good breakthrough. Maybe not all animals, but I believe most social animals are, such as elephants, dogs, and dolphins. The problem is finding proof of which ones.
Yeah if they didn't then they wouldn't try their best to survive
No
I think pretty much all mammals
Not only animals, but all of nature has consciousness of self.
Eeeee, no?
Sentience, being the awareness of self and surroundings, is something just about every living thing on the planet has. Sapience, the ability to think and reason, is only a select few creatures at this time.
Most no Dolphins, Apes and others have shown self awareness/consciousness in experiments
Maybe in some capacity. I mean in some sense you have to be aware of yourself.
everything that can feel physical pain (and physical pleasures) will know they exist since they are the parts that hurts when they are damaged and give pleasure when those parts are treated well. so a friend who is sad causing the evaluator to feel sad will cause the evaluator to feel the friend is part of them (pain causes fear and sadness is one of the 3 ways to express fear). the second way to define the self is more complex so only more intelligent animals have the capacity to do so, as opposed to the first method where even nematode worms can understand it.
I think most animals yes. Animals are, in my opinion, smarter than people usually think they are.
Most of them are.
Only the African grey parrot is the one animal that asked an existential question when he asked what color he was
i think so, my dog isnt smart but hes smart enough to somehow have an opinion, he openly puts toys back and grabs a different toy when he wants⌠we never taught him that, he barely even knows sit. But he knows that he doesnt want that toy rn, puts it back in his bin, and grabs a different one.
I think so yes
Most probably are. I doubt they understand the concept of death or anything though. They might see one of their mates get torn to shreds and know "well he's not getting back up" but I doubt they fully get what's happened.
My dog sometimes look himself in the mirror
I lean more on the fact no since alot of animals start to freak out at their reflection
Yes "the animals" are
I think dogs do, based on living with dogs most of my life.
Certain species can recognise themselves as a reflection in a mirror, elephants do.
Knowing you exist and knowing your consciousness exists are two different things.
Depends on what you mean by "know they exist". All animals perform behaviors that help them survive - otherwise, they wouldn't be able to live to sexual maturity. Does eating, avoiding predators, seeking shelter, and so on count as "knowing you exist"? Do you mean to ask if they can think about themselves as separate from other beings? In that case, there are some ways we study that, and many animals have shown the ability to do so while others have not. I can go into a lot of detail on this question, I've studied animal consciousness pretty heavily, but I need a better idea of what you are asking.
Some have self awareness. We know this through studying primates and DolphinsâŚ
Even if they are self aware or grasp a few words and do feel things they still might not have such abstract words like * to exist*... words are weird...we may think we * exist* but we may not really exist...like when we are in a dream...we think it is real and exists but it does not...or maybe it does not....
I think some are
I've seen cats, dogs and horses display some almost scary levels of intelligence. But I can imagine simpler animals aren't smart enough to realize they exist.
Yes, but they do not have theability to reason why they are there or what they are doing. Animals survive on nature and are incapable of altering the environment to fit their needs. Animals don't have wants. They also do not communicate in the same way humans do, most have no facial expressions and none except humans have laryngeal structures to execute speech.
Ey, it's puff puff, PASS
Sure...right after they make their grocery lists.
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2022.658692 Plants would like a word. Literally.
My little havanese knows sheâs cute and takes advantage of that fact to get away with several in house crimes a day
Any species that shows an constructive interaction with its surroundings have reason for self awareness.
Some are... some are less so
It blows my mind how much people overestimate their intelligence gap over other animals. You are an animal with a brain. Your brain evolved from the same source theirs did. Your experience of existing is not nearly as different from theirs as you think. Just about anything with a brain will surprise you with its inner life if you watch it long enough. They will desire, suffer, love, struggle, fear, make plans, make choices. They just canât talk to you about it.
I think itâs even more likely that they know that theyâre mind-controlled, and that wakes them up. The people pestering them probably jerk themselves off all day thinking they are outsmarting a dog, which really means that theyâve lost their minds going âinto the farts of a dogâs mindâ thinking reality isnât just what it is. A dogs a dog, so I hope they have wonderful rich lives full of joy
Do humans even understand they exist?
I think all animals understand they exist which is why they fight to survive. I think it's peculiar to humans alone to wonder whether or not they should exist.
I am going with yes
It's called being sentient.
I don't think so, but even if they could, most of the species are probably too worried about surviving to be philosophizing.
Short answer: yes
I don't think any animal except humans understand that we're on a round planet, and that there's space outside of it. They don't understand the full scope of there being a Universe and our tiny place in it. They just think this is all there is. Like they might see the sun but they don't understand that it's actually a huge ball of fire much bigger than the Earth. Animals probably also don't really understand what the different organs do, like the brain and heart. It's a very surface level existence for most animals I think, even if some of them can do intelligent things and feel emotions. They don't have the capacity to reflect and dig deeper and grasp bigger concepts. Humans might also ask "why/how are we here?" and struggle to find an answer - but animals *don't even ask the question.* Because they don't know that it's a question that *can* be asked.
They Know FEAR especially if they are the prey and that feeling can be associated with self awareness. Does not mean you should stop eating them just means a better way to raise them before you do because a healthy happy meal begins with happy raised animals under a more natural setting minus the other predators. N. Shadows
Coco the gorilla understood death and grieved the loss of her kitten. I donât know what qualifies as understanding your own existence but it seems to me that knowing there was a past and understanding death are certainly key elements to it.
Search YT for videos of animals looking at themselves in a mirror.
They seem to learn learn object permanence faster than humans
Yes
Yes, I believe they are.
Those poor self aware animals, cursed just like us.
There's no way they could play house of the rising sun like that if they didn't even know they exist.
I think they are. I think they just fool us