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The notion that human minds are somehow completely different than the minds of other animals has been slowly undermined by evidence showing that other animals have a conception of self, can infer mental states in others, and are capable of reasoning once thought to be true only of humans.

That doesn't have to undermine faith. It is not our intelligence, but the souls each of us receive directly from God that make all the difference.
 
The notion that human minds are somehow completely different than the minds of other animals has been slowly undermined by evidence showing that other animals have a conception of self, can infer mental states in others, and are capable of reasoning once thought to be true only of humans.

That doesn't have to undermine faith. It is not our intelligence, but the souls each of us receive directly from God that make all the difference.
I thought this was common knowledge.
 
I thought this was common knowledge.
You'd think so. But when I was teaching, some of my students mentioned that a language arts teacher told them that dogs and other animals don't really have feelings or awareness, so it's O.K. to do what you will with them.

We took a little time to cover the evidence for animal consciousness and intelligence.

They told her about that evidence, and she was annoyed. But she really had no business even talking about it; she had nothing to contribute.
 
You'd think so. But when I was teaching, some of my students mentioned that a language arts teacher told them that dogs and other animals don't really have feelings or awareness, so it's O.K. to do what you will with them.

We took a little time to cover the evidence for animal consciousness and intelligence.

They told her about that evidence, and she was annoyed. But she really had no business even talking about it; she had nothing to contribute.
Horrifying.
Anybody that has a cat or dog knows animals have feelings and awareness.

But, regarding consciousness, scientists are currently working on trying to understand exactly what it is.

Since it's not physical, do you think we'll ever really understand this?
 
Horrifying.
Anybody that has a cat or dog knows animals have feelings and awareness.

But, regarding consciousness, scientists are currently working on trying to understand exactly what it is.

Since it's not physical, do you think we'll ever really understand this?
And pigs,cows and chickens .

Opossums and others
 
Horrifying.
Anybody that has a cat or dog knows animals have feelings and awareness.

But, regarding consciousness, scientists are currently working on trying to understand exactly what it is.

Since it's not physical, do you think we'll ever really understand this?
I doubt it. Panpsychism, the idea that all things have at least rudimentary consciousness, is supported by considerable evidence.

The materialist viewpoint states that consciousness is derived entirely from physical matter. It’s unclear, though, exactly how this could work. “It’s very hard to get consciousness out of non-consciousness,” says Chalmers. “Physics is just structure. It can explain biology, but there’s a gap: Consciousness.” Dualism holds that consciousness is separate and distinct from physical matter—but that then raises the question of how consciousness interacts and has an effect on the physical world.

Panpsychism offers an attractive alternative solution: Consciousness is a fundamental feature of physical matter; every single particle in existence has an “unimaginably simple” form of consciousness, says Goff. These particles then come together to form more complex forms of consciousness, such as humans’ subjective experiences. This isn’t meant to imply that particles have a coherent worldview or actively think, merely that there’s some inherent subjective experience of consciousness in even the tiniest particle.

I think Schweitzer had it right with his idea of "reverence for life."
"No one can give a definition of the soul. But we know what it feels like. The soul is the sense of something higher than ourselves, something that stirs in us thoughts, hopes, and aspirations which go out to the world of goodness, truth and beauty. The soul is a burning desire to breathe in this world of light and never to lose it – to remain children of light."
 
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