Animals are sentient

Thank you, Con."So the human brain isn't all though different from most animals. It is slightly, some parts are larger, smaller or more complex then animals. However, not by much. The main difference between the human brain and animal brains is the size ratio. The human brain has one of the largest brain to body mass ratio. There are of coarse animals with a higher ratio, but their brains are too small to support the kind of intelligence humans have. Because of this we are much more intelligent then all of the other animals on the planet."Actually, this is not true, many animals have bigger brain to body mass ratios. [1] Humans are ranked 5th on the list.1. Small Ants2. Horse3. Elephant4. Lion5. HumanAnd one of these animals are not that bigger than a human. The lion. As a matter of fact, a lion's average height is only 120 cm, which is only 3 feet 11 inches(at shoulder) [2]. If they were on their hind legs, they would be about 7 feet. Some humans are this tall, for example, Yao Ming, who is even taller than this, is 7 foot 6. [3] Not to mention a horse is on here, which is slightly bigger than a lion."There has also been research to suggest that there is a significant difference between self-recognition and self-awareness. The two are certainly linked. A self-aware human is almost always capable of self-recognition (with the exception of those who's sensory organs have been damaged in such a way that they are incapable of using them). However, a creature capable of self-recognition isn't necessarily capable of self-awareness. Using the mirror test an animal can recognize itself in the mirror, so it has achieved self-recognition. However, this does not mean it is self-aware. Using the computer as an example once again, a computer could recognize a picture of itself (assuming it has some sort of distinguishing feature and it has an image of what it looks like), but the computer does not actually aware. It compares the image it is given with the image that it is told it looks like and decides whether or not they are the same thing. As I said earlier babies repeatedly fail the mirror test up until a certain point in their development. But once they can recognize themselves in a mirror there is no evidence to suggest that they are actually conscious. At a young age humans are essentially animals. The mirror test can be an indicator of self-recognition, however it is rarely a indicator of self-awareness."But, I thought the definition of self-aware, "When an individual can identify, process, store information about the self, and has knowledge of one's own mental states they are defined to have self-awareness." meant the same as self-recognition basically. It has it's own knowledge of it being there. Also, we are not talking about computers, they are not living, and they do not have a brain, so of course they can't be self-aware, if they are not living, and don't have a brain.. they do not have feelings. Computers just can't feel anything, they are machines. According to this, these are the things to become self-aware, or to classify something as self-aware. [4]Self Awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, beliefs, motivation, and emotions. Self Awareness allows you to understand other people, how they perceive you, your attitude and your responses to them in the moment.As you can see, computer(s) have NONE of these things."This is true to some extent. If you tried teaching sign language to a dolphin it just couldn't do it. Despite the fact that they are intelligent animals, dolphins just can't do it. If I can once again use the analogy of a computer. If you use a computer you can very quickly store all of the words or symbols required for languages. In fact, it could do it much faster and better then a gorilla or even a human could. But this does not mean the computer is self aware. Several incredibly advanced chatbots have been created that can almost pass as human. But they are not self aware, when you get down to it they are simply algorithms that choose words based off of the input given. It is the same with a gorilla it learned patterns over time but it is not consciously aware of what those symbols mean."As I said before, a computer does not have a brain, it is also not even living, it cannot be self-aware. They do not have feeling, as said before. Also, of course it would be faster than a gorilla/human. Look at the brain (http://biau.org...) compared to the parts in a computer, which are man-made, and not natural. (http://everystockphoto.s3.amazonaws.com...) not to mention the parts in the circuit board, which contain over thousands.Of course a dolphin could not do it, they have no fingers to learn sign language."Alright, so there is certainly some merit to the mirror test. On the other hand, there has been research to suggest that the mirror test provides false negatives. Using the mark test on human children has shown that they repeatedly fail it up until 15 -18 months. Even humans at a certain age are not self-aware. We later achieve it, but has babies we are basically animals and we rely on instinct and other humans to keep us alive."You just said that young children act like animals, but this does not support the results shown in the mirror tests. Also, comparing them to animals is invalid, because animals can hunt and survive by themselves, babies obviously cannot without the help of older humans. Animals can actually keep themselves alive.Cites:[1]- http://en.wikipedia.org...[2]- https://www.google.com...[3]- https://www.google.com...[4]- http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com...