Coming from a first-world country, I don't know anybody specific... but the concern is not about simple thought, it's about a sense of self.
Sheesh, how are these guys prominent, and what is this going to change? It's certainly not going to lend PETA any more credit than it has. Tests aren't going to change because a few scientists at a conference say so, and neither are industry practices. As far as I'm concerned, this is just another waste of time and funds that could have been used for something far more productive.
But I must say, due to the sadist in me, this makes meat even tastier. Bring on the cow!
But I must say, due to the sadist in me, this makes meat even tastier. Bring on the cow!
Regardless, the article, and its proposition, don't seem to suggest anything about self-awareness, but only mere cognition, which wasn't really a surprise to anyone who's ever been in contact with an animal before, even passively/indirectly. Intentionality is obviously there--self-reflection isn't necessary for intentionality. The large question on most thinkers' minds, for a context like this, is whether the awareness is so "evolved" (or as I would say, dangerously broken) that the animal could look upon its own awareness in a metastance. And even that isn't really all that different from a merely cognitive animal. Though we call it self-cognition, that doesn't really mean there is some different kind of cognition at play. It's only that the gazing glass has been turned on another object, either the fabricated sense of self, or an objective sense of self. In either case, it's still the same gaze possible in many mammals. It's only been turned one something different.
The Mirror Test itself is pretty bogus, anyways, for a number of reasons, but the most obvious is that a physical reflection has almost nothing to do with one's self-identity, which has almost exclusively been locked to the realm of moral, personal thoughts and virtues. Though we certainly have identity theories for physical objects, they are tools, and so if we regress the Mirror Theory into object recognition, birds and squirrels have been self-aware for eons, given their utilization of various nuts/acorns/whatever.
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Still no names of the actual scientists.
I would really like to know who these "scientists" are, because they sure have been doing a lot.
Current tests and industry practice aren't going to change at all in regards to animals, unless there is disease or whatnot. There's too much money riding on it. As far as the industry go, ethics can largely shove it.
As for this being a waste of time...really? You do realize that this revelation means that they have to revise and re-evaluate all previously held conceptions that are tied to this? And, furthermore, a major part of understanding the human brain and behavior is understanding the brain and behavior of animals. This is a huge step.
Eating meat is fine anyway. We're omnivores.
Damn straight. If animals don't want to be eaten, they should stop being so delicious.
Various animals have tried this, trouble is we now control their evolution so tightly it would be quite hard for it to be carried on. Ah science, is there nothing you can not do.
This is not a huge step, because of this conference we do not understand animal behavior better, and this is not a major revelation. All this conference was, was a bunch of people signing a piece of paper with the words "Animals have conscious awareness". The fact that nothing will change as a result of this means that it means absolutely nothing, so yes, as far as I'm concerned, this was a huge waste of money and time.
