I think that the idea that humans have something special, a spirit, or some integrated consiousness that distinctly puts us in a different group then animals, is an idea that gives us too much credit. i dont think that what we have is anything special. The only reason we can have the complex level of thoughts we have and the capability of abstract thought is just because we have an advanced brain. i think that all animals have 'conciousness', it just is not as developed as ours. just let me explain here. all animals have 5 senses that their brain interprets and feeds to them so that they can make choices. now most lower animals brains are not very developed and so most of their actions are done by instinct. but lets say a dog for example. he knows when he is hungry, and knows where his food is, he knows who i am, and has feelings for me. if i yell at him he can feel hurt and may hide or stay away from me, he has some sense of 'person' the only thing that makes us so special is our ability to interpret these senses and thus make sense of them has increased because of our brain size and i assume our development of advanced language. but as an example, look at a severely retarded person. they have no intelligence, they cannot have complex thought, so wouldnt it be fair to say that they have a low amount of conciousness? woulnt it be safe to assume that a severely retarded person is less aware then day a monkey? i just this will help people really think about life
Conciousness means being aware of the things around and inside you. So do animals have that? In my opinion yes. They might not have such a high intellect as us, but that doesnt mean theyre not concious. Dont confuse intellect with conciousness mate. I can even go as far as to say: intellect sometimes stands in the way of being concious.
We come from the same family-line as the animals, essentially making us animals too. The difference that sets us apart from our animals though, is that we have a Mind capable of Reason. It's this specific asset that sets us apart from all other animals. Indeed, not only do dogs and monkeys have feelings and desires, but all animals have base desires with which they operate from. Domestic dogs and monkeys which are subjected to much human interaction are slightly more developed than the other animals, according to the amount of mind-substance we rub off on them. However, they will not develop a true reasoning mind until the spine is developed vertically. This is the mark of an intelligent, reasoning being. All intelligent beings have evolved an upright center of mass. Therefore, mentally handicapped people are still much more advanced than even the smartest animal. If you were to delve into the consciousness of a domestic dog, you will find that it is very much like a simple human dream. A bird's waking experience is that of a fast-moving slideshow in that it can only experience a single thing at a time. An ant's consciousness is even more difficult to describe. It is like being in a deep sleep but having the faintest impulse towards action. Except this impulse does not rest and has no break. This chain of consciousness is unbroken from human all the way down to minerals and rock. As much as animals are above plants in that they have desires and feeling, we are above animals in that we possess a mind with waking consciousness. Hence, the human able to use his mind to control his desires is more evolved than the human who is ruled by his desires just as animals are.
The activity of our frontal lobes has been associated with forethought, formal reasoning, and logical inferences. No other animal has such a finely-tuned array of ratio-linguistic abilities. This does not make us superior to the other animals, but it does make human life, in some respects, more colorful. Our rational thoughts are a huge part of our being and of our awareness. Animals, so far as science can show, do not have such atemporal streams of thought, and are always trapped in the present.
Three-second memory myth: Fish can remember for up to five months | Mail Online #71: Slime Molds Show Surprising Degree of Intelligence | Animal Intelligence | DISCOVER Magazine
Well genes and individual organisms always have a purpose in the grand scheme of things, and it's true a lot of them have memory and show adaptive abilities. However, no organisms reflect like humans do. They simply don't have as many or as vivid perceptions as we do.
Maybe animals are equal in consciousness to humans but lack the physical traits to communicate or do certain actions. Maybe they're no different.
I can't see magnetic fields. http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070924/full/news070924-5.html If you've been watching the presidential debates, you may start to wonder if some people can perceive anything...or, having perceived it, comprehend their perception. Slime Mold for President!
They are conscious forms of life like us. Like someone said, they are just less intricate. For example, while animals just do their shit, we as humans like to self reflect. We've moved beyond the biological existence of just looking for a next meal to stay alive. Every life form is conscious and has the ability to feel love.