Identifying Consciousness in Other Creatures: Three Initial Steps.
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) April 17, 2024 Alejandro Heredia Cedillo, Dennis Lambert, Ezequiel Morsella
Identifying consciousness in other creatures, whether animals or undiscovered exotic beings, is a major scientific challenge. The authors propose three necessary steps: first, define the specific kind of consciousness of interest; second, identify key differences in human brain processes associated with consciousness versus those that are not, using passive frame theory; third, generalize these human insights to other creatures. They emphasize understanding how evolution—a haphazard, tinkering process that can produce suboptimal and counterintuitive adaptations—shaped consciousness. The more that is understood about the differences between conscious and unconscious processing in humans, the easier it will be to identify consciousness elsewhere.