Insects and the Origins of Consciousness

[Recusant]

Reading about this paper on consciousness in insects, I was reminded of previous discussions we've had here on the question of consciousness, the most recent I think was this one. I regret to say that I never finished reading the paper that xSilverPhinx linked in that thread, though I still have my notes from it, and may be inspired to return to finish it.

Anyway, here's an article on the paper: "Insects can teach us about the origins of consciousness" | Phys.org

Do bees like the taste of nectar? Does the ant foraging for your crumbs feel better when she finds one?

Are insects merely tiny robots? Or, in the phrase popularised by the philosopher Thomas Nagel, is there something it is like to be a bee?

Until recently, most scientists and philosophers would have laughed at the question. But now, research is challenging that dismissive attitude towards invertebrate consciousness.

It is worth clarifying what we mean when we talk about insect consciousness, since the term consciousness carries a lot of baggage. Everyone agrees that bees can take in environmental information and perform impressive computations on it.

We want to know something more: whether insects can feel and sense the environment from a first-person perspective. In philosophical jargon, this is sometimes called "phenomenal consciousness".

Rocks, plants and robots don't have this. Metaphorically speaking, they are dark inside. Conversely, most of us think that a dog running for its dinner isn't just a little guided missile. It smells its food, wants to eat and sees the world around it as it runs.

Each of these feel a certain way to us, and they feel like something for the dog too. If that is right, then dogs are conscious, at least in the minimal sense.

[Continues . . .]

The abstract of the paper:

How, why, and when consciousness evolved remain hotly debated topics. Addressing these issues requires considering the distribution of consciousness across the animal phylogenetic tree. Here we propose that at least one invertebrate clade, the insects, has a capacity for the most basic aspect of consciousness: subjective experience. In vertebrates the capacity for subjective experience is supported by integrated structures in the midbrain that create a neural simulation of the state of the mobile animal in space. This integrated and egocentric representation of the world from the animal's perspective is sufficient for subjective experience. Structures in the insect brain perform analogous functions. Therefore, we argue the insect brain also supports a capacity for subjective experience. In both vertebrates and insects this form of behavioral control system evolved as an efficient solution to basic problems of sensory reafference and true navigation. The brain structures that support subjective experience in vertebrates and insects are very different from each other, but in both cases they are basal to each clade. Hence we propose the origins of subjective experience can be traced to the Cambrian.

[Tank]

Gosh. Fascinating.

[No one]

Human consciousness does not apply to all consciousness.

[xSilverPhinx]

This is way more interesting that anything Chalmers wrote.

[Icarus]

Lo the many mysteries we have yet to resolve.

[joeactor]

Great topic, and one I'm sure will continue to perplex us for a long time.

What about slime molds?

Just watched the following video - could even such a simple organism have consciousness?

[Recusant]

Slime molds are fascinating, but I doubt that they have a "first person perspective" even in their most purposeful manifestations.