Animals and Consciousness

Western science seems to believe that consciousness is an almost exclusively human trait. Oh, they allow that some apes have a dim sort of awareness and that a few mammals show some tiny bit of consciousness, but they give the prize to us humans.

Well, they are wring. Anyone who spends time with a dog or cat or any other domestic animal, and who can stop being so taken by their own awareness can tell you that animals are not just mechanically instinctual creatures. They have moods and emotions just like we do and, at times and in some ways, they are more aware of their surroundings than we are.

And, it's not just pets. For awhile, I worked for my Dad and every afternoon, about 2 Pm, we took a break and sat in his little office. The room had a nice window and, every single afternoon, as we sat down, a small lizard came out and sat on the window sill. Every afternoon and exactly as we sat down. As soon as we left, it disappeared. The creature knew us, I am convinced of that, and just wanted to hang out.

Another example. I used to go out and smoke my pipe in the evening, near some shade trees. Every time I came out, a mockingbird would perch on a nearby telephone pole, always the same one, and sing. I knew it was the same one because it had an odd white streak on its tail feathers. Well, I used to play harmonica and I whistle a lot, so, One evening, after it sang for a moment, I whistled back a short tune. It copied it and improvised a nice passage after. Every evening, we met and exchanged tunes until, one evening I whistled a complex passage. It tried to respond, couldn't, looked at me, and flew off. It never came back again. It was as if it disliked being shown up and I always regretted that I did that. Oddly enough, the tune was a piece by Roland Kirk called Serenade for a Cookoo.

Call me insane, you won't be the first and I am sure others will follow, but I am convinced that animals are very conscious. It is a different sort of consciousness, but it is real and we should show them more respect. Next time, I'll tell you about plants.