Why is Consciousness ...

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by FallingLeaves

i dunno it is hard to say what has sentience and what doesn't. I know that dogs eyes are 'clearer' than humans eyes when I look into them, they seem overall more 'aware'. But that may just be me.

The dog's consciousness reflects the dog's behaviour, and they both are synchonious to it's physical form. For instance, the Dog will bark - even if it only ever knew other humans - it thinks in it's own experiences, for instance it's world is more scent based, it's vision of people is smells and body language/facial expressions. For instance, if you bare your teeth at a dog, dogs become aggitated. If you bark at a dog, they experience it through their own language. Dog experts will tell you that dogs find it much easier to recognize 'vowel' sounds and that if you talk to a dog that is essentially what they pick out and hear, and memorise because dogs speak in vowels. ouuuuu, and woogh, etc.

Dogs are social animals much like humans, they have the brain to compromise enemy/friend. Their survival mechanics fit directly into their experience of existence, as do ours. A dog never feels like a person, because the dog can only feel like a dog. Dogs are sentient, that's pretty well known and there is a cause for them to be sentient and aware. Because like us, they are social animals - bred from pack animals. Their physical form isn't separate from this reality.

:)

[FallingLeaves]

Originally Posted by WuWei

The dog's consciousness reflects the dog's behaviour, and they both are synchonious to it's physical form. For instance, the Dog will bark - even if it only ever knew other humans - it thinks in it's own experiences, for instance it's world is more scent based, it's vision of people is smells and body language/facial expressions. For instance, if you bare your teeth at a dog, dogs become aggitated. If you bark at a dog, they experience it through their own language. Dog experts will tell you that dogs find it much easier to recognize 'vowel' sounds and that if you talk to a dog that is essentially what they pick out and hear, and memorise because dogs speak in vowels. ouuuuu, and woogh, etc.

Dogs are social animals much like humans, they have the brain to compromise enemy/friend. Their survival mechanics fit directly into their experience of existence, as do ours. A dog never feels like a person, because the dog can only feel like a dog. Dogs are sentient, that's pretty well known and there is a cause for them to be sentient and aware. Because like us, they are social animals - bred from pack animals. Their physical form isn't separate from this reality.

:)

Thanks! That was enlightening

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by WuWei

The dog's consciousness reflects the dog's behaviour, and they both are synchonious to it's physical form. For instance, the Dog will bark - even if it only ever knew other humans - it thinks in it's own experiences, for instance it's world is more scent based, it's vision of people is smells and body language/facial expressions. For instance, if you bare your teeth at a dog, dogs become aggitated. If you bark at a dog, they experience it through their own language. Dog experts will tell you that dogs find it much easier to recognize 'vowel' sounds and that if you talk to a dog that is essentially what they pick out and hear, and memorise because dogs speak in vowels. ouuuuu, and woogh, etc.

Dogs are social animals much like humans, they have the brain to compromise enemy/friend. Their survival mechanics fit directly into their experience of existence, as do ours. A dog never feels like a person, because the dog can only feel like a dog. Dogs are sentient, that's pretty well known and there is a cause for them to be sentient and aware. Because like us, they are social animals - bred from pack animals. Their physical form isn't separate from this reality.

:)

Ever since time immemorial, humans have been projecting human traits upon animals to try and understand them. I became aware of it just recently when I did it myself unknowingly and my brain kinda 'took over'.

To a dog, there is no 'enemy' or 'friend'. There is 'you are welcome in my territory' or 'you ain't welcome' and a female on heat will definitely score the former, while a rival male will have to fight the 'Alpha Male' for dominance of the 'doggy clan'.

It's like animals everywhere - they have their own groups, there own little cliques and they are very wary of intruders coming in and adding their own little bit of 'genetic diversity' into the mix. It's why a lot of species died out - they inbred themselves to death.

Anyway, dogs are wild animals and the only reason why they are 'nice' to humans is because they are mooching off us. We give them a 'free ride' so they don't have to waste their energy going out and hunting a meal down. The sooner human beings 'get it' the better. lol

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Ever since time immemorial, humans have been projecting human traits upon animals to try and understand them. I became aware of it just recently when I did it myself unknowingly and my brain kinda 'took over'.

To a dog, there is no 'enemy' or 'friend'. There is 'you are welcome in my territory' or 'you ain't welcome' and a female on heat will definitely score the former, while a rival male will have to fight the 'Alpha Male' for dominance of the 'doggy clan'.

It's like animals everywhere - they have their own groups, there own little cliques and they are very wary of intruders coming in and adding their own little bit of 'genetic diversity' into the mix. It's why a lot of species died out - they inbred themselves to death.

Anyway, dogs are wild animals and the only reason why they are 'nice' to humans is because they are mooching off us. We give them a 'free ride' so they don't have to waste their energy going out and hunting a meal down. The sooner human beings 'get it' the better. lol

Obviously they don't use terms in their head like 'friend'. But they experience trust and attachment to those they know they benefit from having with them, or simply spend a lot of time with. That's a friend.

Dogs very clearly experience emotional attachment to other dogs, and to humans. Social life IS those experiences, it's how they work. Wolves the wild become excited, yes (the human kind of excited) the same chemistry in their brain when they meet up with other wolves they have known for a long time, after not seeing them for a long time.

We HAVE to use human terms as markers to explain animal experiences, because we're humans. We don't have animal markers. lol

[waechter418]

There could be as many variations and interpretations of Consciousness as there are beholders.

[Busby]

Imagine a game of table tennis speeded up millions of times. That's what consciousness is - a continuous exchange of all possible information. That condition, state, world, in which we find ourselves is created by a great hail of feedbacks.
The thing we call karma is that small part of this hailstorm that we can actually (to some extent) experience. But in the greater scheme of things our experiences are tiddlers in the ocean.