An inanimate object is hot.
A plant responds to heat.
An animal feels hot.
An animal with more neural connections perceives a hot object.
A human being thinks about heat.
Pre-conscious Stages
inorganic
organic
Conscious Stages
sensation
perception
conceptualization
An organism whose response to heat involves feeling hot has made the transition from unconsciousness to consciousness. Consciousness is a property of an organism caused by, but not identical with, its neuronic interactions. I still can't help looking at an organism and wondering where its sensations, perceptions and conceptualizations are located.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Well, I can see animals fleeing a forest fire, because they know, in a non verbal way, that fire is hot and PAINFUL.
And I like how, in "The Little Monster," Anderson shows us how early hominins/humans started to THINK about fire, to find practical uses for it.
Happy New Year! Sean
Most mammals have "problem-solving intelligence".
I saw my cat figure out doorknobs once by observing me going in and out of the room she was shut in, and then she tried to open the door... and would have, if she had thumbs; she even got the right direction to twist the knob.
They can also communicate. The same cat will come over to me, tap me on the arm, lead me to a place she can't jump to anymore, and look at it and then at me.
This is "lift me up there", as plain as words.
In other words, this cat has mental pictures of things and does mental manipulation of the objects, observing them in her mind as she tries out alternatives.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That would explain why animals flee forest fires. They have mental images of a fire and images of how painful fires are.
Happy New Year! Sean
Sean: which is basically why we do it.
Further note: I can see this cat deciding things. She'll look towards the spot I give her certain treats, then towards her current favorite resting spot, and then back and forth.
It's fairly plain she's -thinking-, and thinking about her own mental states at that -- "what do I really want to do now?"
I saw a cat stalking a pheasant in the middle of a field and lay down in the grass to watch what was going to happen.
Weird.
The cat crept right up beside the pheasant which must have seen/sensed it but didn't move. Then the cat just slunk away out in the open still without any response from the bird.
I imagined two parts of the cat's brain:
(i) "this is the kind of thing that I should stalk";
(ii) "it is awful big" or "I just can't be bothered."
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Your cat was undecided on whether it wanted to sleep or eat! (Smiles)
And I recall you telling us a similar story about a cat stalking a DEER, which was spooked! The deer had the image "This thing is behaving like a hunting predator." But, "What gives? This thing is too small to hunt me!" So the deer was skittish and anxious.
Happy New Year! Sean
Low self-esteem is not a general problem with cats.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Not if a cat is willing to try ts luck hunting something so much bigger than it as a deer!
Happy New Year! Sean
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