Words&Dirt

“Given the similarities in behavior and nervous systems between humans and other large-brained species, there is no reason to cling to the notion that only humans are conscious. As the document puts it, ‘The weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness.’ I can live with that. As you can see from this chapter, there is sound evidence that mental processes associated with consciousness in humans, such as how we relate to the past and future, occur in other species as well. Strictly speaking, this doesn’t prove consciousness, but science is increasingly favoring continuity over discontinuity. This is certainly true for comparisons between humans and other primates, but extends to other mammals and birds, especially since bird brains turn out to resemble those of mammals more than previously thought. All vertebrate brains are homologous.

Although we cannot directly measure consciousness, other species show evidence of having precisely those capacities traditionally viewed as its indicators. To maintain that they possess these capacities in the absence of consciousness introduces an unnecessary dichotomy. It suggests that they do what we do but in fundamentally different ways. From an evolutionary standpoint, this sounds illogical. And logic is one of those other capacities we pride ourselves on.”

––Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal, pg. 234

“Zeitoun had known Todd to be a good tenant, but he didn’t know this side of him. They talked for a time on the porch, and Todd told him stories of his own rescues––how he’d picked up dozens of people already, how he’d been shuttling them to hospitals and staging grounds, how easy it was with a motorboat. Todd had always been, to Zeitoun’s mind, a bit of a wanderer, something of a playboy. He liked to have a good time, didn’t want to be too tied down with rules and responsibilities. He smoked, he drank, he kept irregular hours. But here he was, his eyes alight, talking about carrying people to safety, how his arrival at any given house or overpass was met with cheers and thanks. A time like this could change a man, Zeitoun knew, and he was happy to see it happening here and now to Todd: a good man made better.”

––Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, pg. 138