this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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[–] AntY 1 points 2 years ago

Of course there are things that only humans do, like there are things that only giraffes do. We value stuff like inventions, language and culture precisely because we’re human. A horse wouldn’t appreciate the concept of books because it’s not in their nature. Dogs could possibly think that we’re completely lost because we have no smell. Cats could think that we’re very silly to spend so much time doing pointless things like tapping at a keyboard.

About consciousness, I usually reason from evolutionary good on this: would the species be better at surviving and getting offspring were they conscious? A dog with consciousness would probably outcompete a dog without. A mosquito though? I doubt it.