Prominent Scientists sign Declaration that Animals have Conscious Awareness, just like us

How kind of you, you should sign up for the military.

Already conscripted, trained to kill. Will do my part if necessary.

Some poster above beautifully explained it to you and the "evil cats person". They don't really have a choice in the sense that humans have. Survival of the fittest and shit. The majority of humans have a choice to make a decision according to our moral code.

well, obviously docile and non-predatory animals are going to have a hard time doing this... but why don't you go try to wrangle up a bear, a lion, a rattlesnake perhaps? see what happens

Also, by the way, this is not "bad science", you're just a bad reader... did you read the whole article and the articles that it links to within the article? Obviously NOT, or the MAJORITY of the arguments folks are presenting AGAINST this would've been dispelled before they were even presented...

Every statement that they are making is verifiable, peer reviewed... they're not speaking out of their arses, this isn't an "opinion" piece... they are actually looking at brain and nervous system structures in comparison to our own, and more

This "declaration" was apparently formed and presented at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference (one of the men who discovered the double helix structure of DNA) on Consciousness in Human and Non-Human Animals. That is what it was actually called, and guess who was there?

Friggin STEPHEN HAWKING spoke at this event, purported by many to be the "smartest man alive"... do you think he would even be within miles of such a thing if it was all "JUNK SCIENCE"?

Last Edited by simile on 08/29/2012 09:25 AM

I bet the Demoncraps will push to give all animals the right to vote...using their human "companions" as their proxy...

My thoughts too. Not enough to evaluate this from a spiritual (not religious) point of view. Science has to weigh in before it becomes legitimate. Blech.

OK, just don't say that there's nothing wrong with killing animals because they are doing it too and at the same time claim moral superiority above animals.

Humans are superior only because of the fire power. Go empty handed into a hungry lion's cage and you'll understand who's de facto superior being.

I don't blame Inuit for killing animals - they do it just to survive, they don't do it for sports and to later throw half of their kill to a garbage can. They're also not stuffing themselves beyond any reason. Get my point?

A quick moral philosophy question:

Suppose an extraterrestial race comes to Earth and they are way superior to us in terms of fire power but not necessarily in terms of morality. Would you say that they have a moral right to:

a) hunt us for their version of Kebab

b) hunt us for R&R purposes

c) make space-age version of Luis Vuiton handbags and Jimmy Choo shoes out of our skin?

d) all of the above?

If you think that they don't have that moral right, what's
your argumentation?

Just because you don't like it, and it don't fit in with your existing paradigm don't mean it ain't true.

"Our conscious awareness is what separates us, as God intended."

I think that's just fanciful thinking, doesn't mention that in the bible.

The facts stab at what little concience most humans have. IT's painful for them to acknowledge that hunting is simply murder. War of any kind is simply murder. If we are to move forward we need to rise above these base emotions. These despicable acts.

Human is the superior being, because humans are not outside of nature. Sure, a lion may have the raw power to beat a human, but that's irrelevant. Ever seen those videos of a lion charging a bunch of hunters and a hunter shoots it in the head just prior to contact? That's what determines the superior being. One has the tools to hunt the other to extinction, the other doesn't.

If ETs come and decide to kill us all, what's right or wrong is also irrelevant.

This is why I've been a vegetarian for 21 years. Why should a living, thinking and feeling being have to DIE because I'm hungry?

I'm glad that FINALLY the scientific community is recognizing what's been evident all along to anyone willing to see.

Well at least it's a start and it's a signal that science has confirmed what we, who are in everyday contact with animals, have claimed all along, just to be waved off as some nutbags. I just hope that the norms of our society will follow.

As you can see on this thread there are still a lot of people who are still convinced that there's a clear line between humans and animals when in fact there's not. Abilities such as awareness, communication skills, intelligence should not be seen as binomial pairs (either you have it or you don't) but should be rather seen as a certain amount on a scale.

Still waiting for a noble human person who'll be able to talk Cowish, Pigish, Chickenish, etc. so the animals will know for sure that humans are able to communicate.

I have the same experience with my dog :-)|
from a technical point of view consciousness is a necessity for all 'complex'life, like the nerve knots in spiders legs which take over the fine controle of it's movement.
In my opinion consciousness appaers in as many shapes and sizzes as there are different life forms.
Most people don't want to face this because it makes us look like beast considering what we do with animals...

But, but ... explain this to me.

Let's say you have a gun and know how to use it. I don't have it, probably wouldn't know how to shoot without killing myself while at it. I'm also annoying as hell as you can see, and let's say I'm your neighbour. Why don't you just shoot me? What prevents you to shoot gunless people instead of moose?

+1, but we only have dog. I used to have cats and felt the same about them.

Thank you for this post...I've always believed that.

Chains are not good enough.
This time you shall have the rights of animals.

You should not have led them into slavery, dear shepherds.

great find op!

If only the same could be said for unborn humans , living in the shelter of their mother's womb.

And this was posted at what time?

^^^THIS!!!!

We don't want to face this horrible possibility that they are more complex than we'd thought.

I think that first we should forgive ourselves, quit the self-righteous vegan blame game and move on according to new discoveries. This is a process I'm going through as a former fried chicken tard.

Well, I would say they'll be the next in line after animals are given the right to live given that the embrios are definitely less self-aware, conscious,able to communicate and have feelings compared to animals. But let's call a spade a spade: pro-life is currently just pro-human life.

GOOD! Now all these dog killing cops can finally be dealt with lawfully

Erm..... how would you know? Been one have you? Remember that women and other races were (and still are by many) thought of as being lesser, and incapable of thoughts and feelings, as a "real" human. We have made leaps and bounds in that regard. Now people must start to see that animals too deserve some respect.

Think on this, the very same scientists that reckon we evolved from apes perform horrific animal testing on them. We share most of our dna with the pig.

The only thing that separates us is really our inability to live within nature. Saying that they have no desire to live like us just shows that maybe they are content the way they are. Technological advancement is just one example of intelligence, I'd rather have common sense and peace.

Totally. Whack on the fin cuffs and throw them in sea world.

Ban cages, nothing should be in a cage. Were in the freakin dark ages still

BTW , Denver Colorado opened up a natural habitat elephant walk exhibit and its pouring in money, people want to go see elephants in natural settings, Who would have thunk ?

Im still waiting for the world as a whole to emerge from barbaric behavior.

Next up will be a study that porn degrades women, but I doubt that will ever happen..

A+++

Im at the level of Star Trek humanity,, the thought of women spreading their legs to kill their baby is like thousands of years in the past...

Enough already...