Animals are sentient

I know, most debaters just state opinions or facts that aren't true, because they don't cite."Self-recognition is different the self-awareness."You say that humans are self aware at a certain age, and they can recognize themselves in the mirror easily. Some animals can recognize themselves in the mirror easily, too. So at a certain age, it seems animals should be self aware, too. If both can pass it, they should both be self aware. Self-recognition is one of the key factors in self-awareness, so it is not logical to say they are different, because they have many similiarities.The BrainYes, you were wrong. I believe you are wrong again, because you talk about the cerebral cortex, and how it is way bigger in humans than animals. I have two pictures here, one is a dog brain, and one is a human brain. Now please take notice that dogs have not passed the test once, many breeds have failed. Dog's brain: (http://upload.wikimedia.org...'s_brain.JPG)Human's brain:(http://www.fda.gov...)As you can see, the two brains are VERY alike. I had a hard time knowing if it was actually a human brain or not, but I have confirmed it is a dog's brain in the link name."While it is true that speaking a language can be a sign of sentience, there is a difference between learning a language and speaking a language. What I mean is a computer (or gorilla) can speak a language in that it can learn patterns and repeat those patterns back to the human. Whereas learning a language is actually knowing what those words mean. A computer chatbot can repeat back quasi logical answers to a human to create a conversation, but it has not actually learned how to speak english. The computer was taught patterns, it received those patterns from the human, and it responded in regulation to its program. It is similar with Koko, Koko was taught patterns, saw those patterns and responded based off of the patterns it had memorized."It's different, however. Koko is not made out of this stuff: (http://everystockphoto.s3.amazonaws.com...)A gorilla has about the same inside parts as a human, which is why some of us believe in evolution. [1] Koko's mind interepts it, not a machine, and as I stated before, computer's cannot feel. They are not self-aware."If I may use another analogy, I would like to convey this idea in another way. As suggested by my username "Rubikx", I am fond of Rubik's cubes. Now a Rubik's cube, when you really break it down, is just patterns. Speed cubers can solve them in less then 10 seconds because they have memorized these patterns [3]. They are then given the cubes and based off the patterns they memorized they can solve the cube. Once again, it is the same with Koko. Koko was taught patterns. If Koko had learned sign language simply by watching a person doing sign language over a long period of time, then I would say that Koko would be sentient. But Koko wasn't, it was taught specific hand gestures to respond to specific other patterns."Now this statement is very broad. You say that you memorize Rubikx cube's, which is true. You memorize the patterns. Now, my grandmother who is 86, (unfortunately I can't cite her) has learned sign language and said it has included years old memorizing. I have memorization from Spanish, and I am a little rusty because it takes many years of practice. Sign LANGUAGE and learning another language are similiar, because you do have to memorize it. Who's to say Koko hasn't memorized it like humans? We could ask her in sign language, but I can't find that or visit her.ConclusionBased of the data, I believe that I have proved animals are sentient/self-aware, but if you feel my opponent has done a better job, feel free to vote for him. It was an excellent debate, I have learned a lot from my research on this, and I hope to debate about this in the future. I believe animals are sentient because of their brain similiarities, [2] brain to mass ratio being the order it is, (1. Small Ants, 2. Horse, 3. Elephant, 4. Lion, 5. Human) and animals recognizing themselves using the mirror test, and mark test. [3]Thank you for a great debate, Con.Cites:[1]- http://media-1.web.britannica.com...[2]- http://scienceblogs.com...[3]- http://en.wikipedia.org...