Indeed. Is my cat conscious? It’s certainly an agent (it appears to have its own drives and motivations), with considerable intelligence (for a cat) and something I’d call creativity (it’s an ex-stray with a remarkable ability to work out how to get into places with food it’s after).
And the answer appears to be: yes. “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.”
Indeed. Is my cat conscious? It’s certainly an agent (it appears to have its own drives and motivations), with considerable intelligence (for a cat) and something I’d call creativity (it’s an ex-stray with a remarkable ability to work out how to get into places with food it’s after).
And the answer appears to be: yes. “The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of conscious states along with the capacity to exhibit intentional behaviors. Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not unique in possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also possess these neurological substrates.”