What did scientists declare about animal consciousness in 2012 and 2024?
In 2012 a group of neuroscientists said humans are not alone in having the brain basis of consciousness. In 2024, more than 500 researchers widened the circle.
βΆ Start the storyIn 2012 a group of neuroscientists said that humans are not unique in having the brain machinery behind consciousness. In 2024 more than 500 researchers went further, saying there is at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates and many . Both are statements by groups of scientists, not final proofs, and critics disagree.
The 2012 statement came from a conference on consciousness in humans and non-human animals at the University of Cambridge. The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness unequivocally asserted that humans are not unique in possessing the that generate consciousness, and that non-human animals, including all mammals and birds and many other creatures such as octopuses, have them too. One of its key points was that emotion does not depend only on the cortex: networks aroused during affective states in humans are also critically important for generating emotional behaviours in animals.
In 2024 a conference at New York University on the emerging science of animal consciousness produced the New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness. Signed by over 500 scientists and academics, it asserts strong support for consciousness in mammals and birds, and empirical evidence for at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates and many , including cephalopod molluscs, decapod crustaceans and insects. It adds that when there is such a possibility, it is irresponsible to ignore it in decisions affecting that animal.
500+
Not everyone agrees. Academic reviews are : the case that animals have at least simple conscious thoughts and feelings has strong support, but some critics question how reliably animal mental states can be determined. The neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, for one, advocates avoiding terms derived from human subjective experience when discussing animal brains, arguing that fear is a conscious experience that arises via cortical circuits.
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Recap
Cambridge said humans are not unique in having the brain basis for consciousness, and New York widened the circle to a realistic possibility in all vertebrates and many invertebrates.
π‘ A trick to remember it Β· Cambridge opened the door for birds and mammals; New York propped it open for fish and insects, with 'realistic possibility' as the wedge.
Surprising fact Β· Over 500 scientists and academics signed the 2024 declaration, which includes fishes and insects in its realistic possibility.
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No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (13 claims) cites at least one of these.