Note: A friend of.mine in New York just brought this news to my attention. I think it’s significant enough to pass it along to you. Have a good weekend! Tony P.
Last Friday, several dozen scientists and philosophers released the following “New York Declaration” after a meeting on the science of animal consciousness. It’s brief and carefully worded, likely to avoid criticism of being unscientific:
Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.
First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.
Second, the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects).
Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.
The Declaration reflects what many of us have thought about for some time — that other life has ways of experiencing the world that both parallel and differ from the way we do. The diversity of sensory, perceptual, and reasoning skills exhibited by life on Earth must be astounding.
The final point about decisions affecting animals is likely the most significant. One can hope that this declaration, in some small way, may help amplify our society’s moral and intellectual grasp of the living world— and, in doing so, help lower its staggering level of anthropocentrism.
I’ve come to realize that the narcissistic belief that humans alone possess intrinsic value is the ultimate driver of civilization’s mass destruction of life. Primary triggers of that destruction—overconsumption and overpopulation—are fully enabled by this belief.
My one concern about the New York Declaration and similar works is how they’re interpreted in a practical, ethical sense. Animals are one part of a greater community of life that includes many other beings deserving of moral consideration, regardless of “consciousness.”
For more on the New York Declaration, with quotes from its authors and critics, and references to other related works, read this.
Hi Tony evolution teaches that we are related to all beings by our DNA.. their behavior alone makes them worthy of value.. I don't think though that our success as a specie is solely related to narcissism. We are doing what we are supposed to do, survive and reproduce and we have done it TOO WELL... Religion has postulated that we somehow rule the world but that is proving every day to be a narrative that hurts us as well as wildlife. It's complicated. So its a combination,how many faiths teach that we share so much DNA with rats? It doesn't serve their narrative or their income structure. Great article
Great to read this. I'll just add, plants too!