The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness: An Opinion

Our conscious friends. . .

We are in a revolutionary moment.

Bees "play." They push small wooden balls around with no purpose other than they seem to enjoy doing it. Parrots can reason and use language, not just mimic sounds. Zebrafish show signs of curiosity, exploring novel stimuli. Crows can report back to researchers what they've seen using head movements.

In the last ten years, there has been an explosion of research into animal consciousness.

To many, the idea that animals are conscious is just common sense. But scientists have for decades been given the task to prove it.

In the spring of 2024, a group of scientists and philosophers reached a conclusion and published "The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness."

It is short yet paradigm-breaking. It reads:

"Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.

First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.

Second, the empirical evidence indicates that conscious experience is at least a realistic possibility in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects).

Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks."

To be fair, defining "consciousness" is a hard problem. (according to a paper by author Davide Sattin et al., there are currently 29 theories on consciousness) As humans, we manage this conundrum by automatically assuming that others are conscious and have an inner life. (I'm sure you think there are exceptions to that rule)

The implication of the Declaration is that we need to think about making the same assumptions about other creatures on our planet.

Any way you look at it, this is a major scientific and social paradigm shift.

Think about the deeply held and shared assumptions we hold about humans and animals, a set of assumptions that go back millennia and have been supported by some religions and philosophers (Descartes thought animals were "soulless automatons, lacking consciousness and the ability to feel pain.") In sum; it is we are apart, above and separate from animals. It is this paradigm that is slowly cracking under evidence. Humans use tools. Well, so do some animals. Humans have language. This is a big one, but animals also communicate. (Think whales, dolphins, and the great apes. . .and parrots!) Humans solve problems. So do crows, rats, octopuses, and a host of other animals. Humans feel pain and suffer. Not only do all mammals feel pain and suffer, but so do lobsters. (who we boil alive to eat).

If you are an animal guardian (dogs, cats, goats, and the list goes on), it's undoubtedly obvious that consciousness is shared.

My favorite dog example is watching dogs sleep and presumably dream with their paws twitching and an occasional yip. Then there is their complex social life; greeting, play and their use of body language to communicate moods.

It is not a big step from understanding that our beloved pets have "inner lives" to considering that the wild world is full of conscious and sentient beings. The next time you take a walk with your dog, listen to the birds and the howls of coyotes and take the leap of faith implied in the Declaration that these animals, like us, are sentient.

A crucial canon of wisdom is the willingness to examine our assumptions and discard them when the evidence contradicts them. That is where we are today. We are watching a sea change in how we regard nonhuman life. It will be messy. There will be pushback. Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a signatory of the Declaration, and an Adjunct Research Professor, Dept of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, wrote, "When we dehumanize animals, we can commoditize them." Much of our economy is based on commoditizing sentient beings.

Does this mean we should stop eating meat? Not necessarily, but we should advocate to reduce animal suffering and ensure that animals under our care have fulfilling lives.

Galileo put the sun at the center of the solar system, Newton invented physics, Darwin explained evolution, and Einstein gave us E=mc2. All were paradigm-breaking in their time. Acknowledging animal sentience is the next big step in understanding the universe and life. Welcome to the next revolution.

Hersch Wilson’s book, “Dog Lessons: Learning the Important stuff from our Best Friends” is available in bookstores and online.