Do you need Hands to be Sentient?

External Since: Mar 11, 2004 Posts: 87

"A sentient being has intelligence, is aware of its own existence, and
aware that there is a 'big picture'. For instance, cats, dogs, and
horses have intelligence but probably are not sentient. "

Found that from a 'define:' lookup via Google:
<http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3ASentient&btnG=Search>

In Niven's 'World of PTaavs' we meet a telepath, Larry Greenberg, who is
working on communicating with dolphins.

The characters portrayed by the dolphins are sentient, and exhibit a
kind of cruel honesty/ sense of humour. Now, these aren't any special
dolphins- they have seemingly always been this way, or at least for a
very, very long time and they (I suppose) have been waiting a long time
for us to get a clue.

It brings to mind the definition of sentient and intelligence and
whether your are human just because you have opposable thumbs or not.

TBerk

During this search for links I ran across this interesting site:
<http://www.technovelgy.com>
<http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/AuthorSpecAlphaList.asp?BkNum=84>

External Since: Oct 30, 2004 Posts: 41

In article <X2Wgd.15688$6q2.1292@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>, T wrote:
> "A sentient being has intelligence, is aware of its own existence, and
> aware that there is a 'big picture'. For instance, cats, dogs, and
> horses have intelligence but probably are not sentient. "
>
> Found that from a 'define:' lookup via Google:
> <http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3ASentient&btnG=Search>
>
Not a very good definition IMHO. It simply moves the question of
"what is sentience?" to the question "what is the 'big picture'?".
I doubt that many pet keepers would dispute that cats and dogs are
sentient. They are aware of their own existence (as opposed to the
existence of others); they clearly distinguish between one particular
other and another other (image: cat sees new lap walk into the room, gets
up from current lap and goes to sit on more favoured lap.)
To my mind, sentience is more widely distributed than
intelligence. Intelligence implies not just reaction to immediate
circumstances, but planning for the future (possible distinguishing guide
- compare the highly instinctive food-hoarding behaviour of squirrels
with the directed planning that the same squirrel can exhibit when
overcoming an assault course of ropes, poles, and deflection discs to get
to a relatively trivial food supply. One is intelligent behaviour, one is
instinctive behaviour.) and the achievement of seemingly unrelated
intermediate goals. (Second example - constructing a nest of some sort
for a bird, versus the complex tool making behaviour some birds exhibit
in gathering food.
A crude indicator for sentience might be the deliberate avoidance
of potentially harmful situations. So, the rabbit which freezes then
bolts in an unpredictable direction when a shadow appears on the ground
(raptor!) - the rabbit is showing awareness of self, but the behaviour is
pretty hard-wired (hutch- and house-only rabbits show the same
behaviour). Contrast individual ants continuing to use a trail which an
anteater is ambushing - no individual awareness of self. (I raise the
social insects as a deliberate prod to beg the question of "is an ant
colony sentient, or is the semblance of sentience an emergent behaviour
of a sufficiently complex system".)
Following up from that last point, Simon Conway Morris' recent
book
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521827043/" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0521827043/</a>
103-4745679-7820656?v=glance
[glue the two lines together. First line terminates with the ISBN]
has an interesting set of examples of intelligence and sentience which
have emerged in various parts of the animal kingdom. I don't agree
entirely with his conclusions, but his points are well worth considering.
I've got to re-read it.
One of SCM's deductions (which I think is in essence beyond
dispute) is that hands are *not* necessary for sentience, or
intelligence, or the evolution of tool use. Considering the discussion
about ants prompted above, SCM also posits that individual sentience and
individual intelligence are not necessary prerequisites for the evolution
of tool use. Definitely worth reading.

--
Aidan Karley,
Aberdeen, Scotland,
Location: 57°10'11" N, 02°08'43" W (sub-tropical Aberdeen), 0.021233