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Does a dog have a consciousness? Just reverse the spelling of the canine.

The dog was whining it was from an abandoned dog shelter. It had developed a bond with my daughter who I rarely see except when she wants to use the gym in complex I live in.

That canine was suffering emotional trauma as it waited by the door for my daughter to come back from the gym. That tin can of yummy tuna didn't allay the whining.

Oh well, the canine better get used to. Parents or ex-parents usually end up with the pets.

But the dog was feeling, was it thinking? It was definitely highly conscious.

I put the BBC series 'Dr Who' and grabbed the dog beside me. The dog definitely didn't like Dr Who. Should have put the pet channel on TV. The dog may have got a laugh.

My daughter got back from the gym. The dog was delirious in joy.

I gave my daughter some vego food. No conscious creature will ever grace the dinner plate, Okay the dog may..I'll train it to be a vego.

So are dogs and gods the same?

jules4169 6 June 1
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22 comments

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12

Of course dogs are conscious. The accepted dogma that "only humans are conscious" is just more anthro-centrism of the same form as the Ptolemaic (Earth centered) model of the Universe.

If you've ever really known a dog, you know that they are conscious. Most mammals have a degree of self-awareness and it is highly developed in dogs.

Totally agree, even an ant is conscious of its environment and other nearby ants, predators, food, etc. There is some quality of human consciousness that allows us to create art, study the universe, and communicate that no other animal seems to possess. It is also "consciousness." The study of consciousness is a quest to understand how our brains manage that feat.

Agree as well. Dogs are not equipped with hands or 'talking' type vocal chords so they are limited in expressing their consciousness.

6

Dogs are pack animals. They have an innate sense of how to fit in. Not only that but they can bring members of the pack together. This is a great way to bond with your daughter. Walking the dog is a cheap trip out to parks etc. and you both can share a love.

5

Think of a dog in the same way you would a six year old child. That's about the cognitive level which most dogs are functioning at.

This is the reason which dogs and humans make such perfect companions. Dogs never develop past that phase where they think mom and dad are the best ever and can do no wrong. No dog will ever stop wanting to hang out with you unless it involves doing it for just long enough to bribe you out of the car keys.

4

The difference between dogs and gods are that dogs are real. Dogs definitely have a conciousness - different than our own though.

4

This made me sad.

If there's one single issue that makes me despise the human race completely - it's the treatment of dogs. Dog owners* are some of the most selfish bastards on earth.

A few years ago I had to call an animal rescue charity because an 'animal lover', in the block of flats I live in, had gotten a new dog.

This dog lover had left their dog alone in the flat whilst they went out to work. It used to howl with distress (because it didn't know if it had been abandoned or not). This went on for months.

One time I actually went to check to see if it was alright because it sounded more distressed than usual.

When I looked through the glass of the door I could see it sat in an unlit hallway. It was night time and it had been left alone from the morning. It looked at me, completely dejected. It broke my heart. I cried.

So whenever I see dog owners smugly parading their trophies on leads, like little control freak Hitlers, ignoring the turds their animals leave for others to step in, I have to think about something else to stop my blood from boiling.

Not all dog owners *

A lot of people who have pets shouldn't have more than a pet rock. My dogs are family to me. If they're not ok for whatever reason I'm not ok.

As far as a whining dog it sounds like a high stress animal, some are actually born that way, and could probably benefit from "doggy daycare", a pet sitter , more activity when owner is home, or maybe a new owner. There are some breeds that are just high maintenance on top of being very vocal.

I would NOT want my dogs carrying on like that in our absence because there are crazy unhinged people in this world who would do them harm if I allowed it.

4

I'm just hoping you aren't serious about training the dog to be a vego (which I'm guessing means vegetarian)

4

Yes. So are you. We are all god.

I think you are the only one who caught that.

3

I absolutely believe that dogs have feelings and can sense certain things. My dog is always there to comfort me on a normal basis but, when I am really upset, she comforts me in a different way than she usually does. It is like she knows that at that time, I need that extra cuddling and nuzzling. They are so therapeutic. (I know that has nothing to do with the topic). I am sure that most of their actions that seem to be feelings are just instinct or intuition. I choose to ignorantly believe that they are feelings. I love dogs. I question people that don't like them. ?

3

Forcing dogs, who are primarily carnivores, to be "vego" is what is wrong with militant vegan mentality. It's cruel and flat out stupid. There, I said it.
People should no more force dogs & cats to be "vego" than a lion. smfh

Dogs are more omnivorous than cats (although, having said that, I understand that the first part of its prey that a big cat will eat is the stomach and its contents), but shouldn't be kept on a meatless diet, for sure.

Absolutely, I had a rescue greyhound (Toby) that had been forced onto a vegetarian diet most of its life, it was in a disgusting state when I took it in. a few steaks and some vitamin and protein supplements later he was fine and healthy again, and lived a long and happy life , with only an obsessive love of cheese to show for the experience.

@moNOtheist There is an epidemic of dogs being deficient in taurine due to certain legumes etc that block absorption. This is a serious issue. Taurine deficiency causes cardiac damage.

@LenHazell53 Oooh I ❤ greyhounds. .. yes turning dogs veggo = BAD.

Guys I was joking about the vego stuff. A dog like us cannot produce certain essential amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. Possibly if the dog got to like eggs and cheese it could survive. I think you may be confusing things with 'vegan'. Not creatures from the solar system around the sun Vega but certainly from off this planet.
Anyway got to go. Got a burger cooking.

@jules4169 ah ok, well there ARE people out there and on this very site who advocate such things so you never know. So guess my replies are for those that think it's a great idea.

3

All non-humans are sentient beings whose lives humans need to learn to respect. We are all Earthlings. We are all Equal. All beings have the right to live free of wrongful imprisonment, enslavement, exploitation, and murder at the hands of humans. All non-human animals have the right to live peacefully on the earth without human interference.

Are all non-humans sentient? Is a mollusc or an amoeba? All is a pretty big tent..

@moNOtheist just because you can't converse with them or understand them doesn't mean you should dismiss them. The best we as humans can do is to tread lightly and do no harm.

@SkotlandSkye I'm not dismissing them, simply asking at what point is sentience present? Assuming you'd agree that plant life isn't sentient, at which stage of cellular complexity among animal species does it begin?

3

Ha.
We've a 70+ pound German Shepherd named Zorak. Pretty good name for a God.... right? He's (again, god-like being male) content as long as he is sacrificed to (food and petting), and is in the presence of his worshipers. If you were to enter his domain unannounced though, you'd suffer old testament "wrath of god" treatment.
So, I think you may be onto something dog=god.
😉

3

If you read Jack Londons "White fang" dogs look at us as gods.

3

Is it asleep? No? Then it's conscious. I suspect that you think the word means something more than that though?

Definitely not a god though. Unless it's Anubis but that's unlikely.

3

the same self or awareness that resides within us also resides within the dog. it is just filtered through different apparatus no the ability to connect is limited.

I read your profile. Consider me on board with your ideas about consciousness. Have you looked at CTMU, Christopher Langan’s creation? There’s also the theory of Conscious Realism by Cognitive Scientist Donald Hoffman that is of interest.

@WilliamFleming I will be checking those out today. Always looking for new twists and turns. Thanks!!!

2

No disrespect meant to anybody on this site, but what is really needed is a lesson in animal taxonomy and physiology, focusing on the nervous system. All mammals and birds in particilur hsve advanced nervous systems, advanced brain development and advanced brain stem. Because of this, they can feel pain, sense emotions, have and display emotionds, express emotional need and distress. They may lack our abstract ability to put a name to the emotion they feel and then be able to have a reasoned conversation about it, but do not mistake for a minute that they aren't capable of feeling most rmotions.

I won't delve onto the anatomy and physiology of the digestove sydtem, as many of you gave already touched upon it.

2

Dogs unlike cats can survive without animal flesh. But they do prefer it & should have it. But they will enjoy vegetables other than onions, avocado,chocolate,bananas which are toxic to them in large quantities. Carrots, cruciferous are really good for them.

2

I don't know of any solid evidence that dogs have self-awareness, so my vote is no.
I think its a case of anthropomorphism and wishful thinking.

But then how on earth would anyone know?!

Self awareness is often tested by having a mirror in an animal's environment. If they recognize themselves, instead of thinking the mirror image is another animal, they are said to be self-aware.

A consciousness definition may or may not include being self-aware. Even a chimpanzee who sees himself in the mirror, instead of another chimp, cannot do things we do, such as write a message.

A hypothetical (speculation): Dogs smell things we cannot. Perhaps they can smell their own aroma and be aware of themselves in that way, as well as smell of other dogs and be aware of them. So, it is conceivable dogs are self aware, but not visually looking at a mirror. Perhaps someday, someone will design an experiment to find out if dogs are self-aware via their nose.

On the other hand, kick a dog and it will react. It is aware it was kicked, that is a kind of self awareness that all animals exhibit. Consciousness and self-awareness are difficult to pin down because they are subjective.

1

Dogs and gods aren't the same as dogs exist. Like all animals, dogs have what most people consider to be a conscious. To me, conscious is overthought and nothing more than backup memory.

1

Hmmmm

0

Totally agree with you !

0

Do your daughter's dog a favor and respect that canines are carnivores!! Your choice to be a vegan (or whatever) is your choice, but is not a choice for a dog (or cat). And, yes, dogs are highly conscious, and can posses great intelligence and even humor!

Rustee Level 7 July 10, 2018
0

By consciousness do you mean is a dog aware that it is alive or aware that it is a dog?

Well we could ask the same questions of beings who walk on two legs and have hands to manipulate objects.

  • Is a paedophile aware he/she is a paedophile?
  • Is a meth dealer aware he/she is causing destruction to peoples lives?
    The list could go on and on

Mate you better refine your comments. You've given me a whole new perspective on intelligent life forms.

@jules4169 Surely, paedophiles and meth dealers are fully conscious of what they do and, (whether always faced squarely or not) on some level, of the consequences of their actions, although perhaps falling back on the comforting rationalization that children actually welcome their sexual advances or that meth buyers are responsible for their own actions and that if they themselves didn't sell meth, buyers would simply find someone else (funnily enough, the same justification that arms manufacturers use). I was once told by a psychiatrist that even people who hear hallucinatory voices are often aware that these aren't real.

As humans, we're conscious not only that we are human, but also that we are alive (because we're also aware that one day we'll be dead, or as I read on a gravestone: "As you are now, so I once was. As I am now, so you shall be." ) not an existential insight that comes to many other species, I'd hazard.

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