Sentience…

sentient

[ˈsen(t)SH(ē)ənt]

ADJECTIVE

1. able to perceive or feel things.

"she had been instructed from birth in the equality of all sentient life forms"

synonyms:

feeling · capable of feeling · living · live · conscious · aware · responsive · reactive

 

1. At what point does "sentience" end and mere "life force" take over?  Where do you draw that line?

[✋ 🚏Stop here, think about it, and jot down your answer before continuing.]

2. Does a bug have sentience?  Granted, they do not have what we’d call a consciousness, as in self-awareness and thought patterns with recall.  But they are alive and do have responsiveness to sensory-input impressions. Many also have awareness to stimuli (light, temperature, hunger/desire to eat/consume energy).  And they can react to such.

3. While we’re down here in the weeds (pun intended), what about plant sentience? They also react to stimuli (light, temperature, consumption (of light in the production of) food for energy.  Why would they not quality as sentient?

What’s the difference (how do they differ) in these three awareness/sentient types above?  Be as specific as you can.

4. Now, go back and argue with yourself.  I.e., play devil's advocate to your answers.

Thanks for taking the time to tackle these philosophical questions and posting.

(by Primoridal “Just one more sentient lifeform” Soup)

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