sense of self

[orbsycli]

what other species, other than humans, have a sense of self?

and...don't you think humans have too much sense of self..?

[Dark Mind]

I'm not sure if any do. At least not on the same level as we do.

And yeah, I do agree with you on that second point. But it has led to great scientific discoveries in the field of biology .

[Fishteacher73]

Many cetaceans do. ELephants do, they recognze individuals and acknowledge death. That would indicate a reasonable sense of slef in my book.

[orbsycli]

cool, thanks.

[bumab]

According to one test of self-awareness, a big dot is placed on the animals forehead (or equivalent anatomy) and then they are placed in an environment with a mirror. Self-aware animals will realize the animal in the mirror is them, and attempt to checkout the dot on their forehead. They use the mirror- that's self awareness.

The assumption is if they don't make the connection between themselves and the animal in the mirror, they are not really self aware.

Only dolphins and the great apes pass this test, i believe.

[Qfwfq]

Originally Posted by bumab

The assumption is if they don't make the connection between themselves and the animal in the mirror, they are not really self aware.

I don't buy this lemma. An animal may be aware of itself but not recognize itself visually. If you think about it right, it takes a good conceptual leap to make the connection between oneself and the merely visual image, which is even located in a different place.

I say that, in the most basic sense, any livin' critter that has some form of perception is aware of itself, it's fundamental to the survival-evolution game. Intelligence is a more sophisticated thing.