Fish sentience, consciousness, and AI
Ila France Porcher
Animal Sentience 2018 DOI: 10.51291/2377-7478.1324 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that criticism of evidence for pain in fish and invertebrates stems from belief and territorial defense by fishers rather than from scientific reasoning, and contends that denying sentience to any life form is unjustified while science remains ignorant of the nature and source of consciousness. |
Abstract
The systematic criticism of articles providing evidence that fish and invertebrates can feel pain is discussed. Beliefs are known to be stronger than evidence in the human mind, and could generate this outcry, while from another perspective, the criticisms appear as a territorial move by fishermen against a perceived threat to their domain. The scientific inconsistency in which consciousness is granted to machines but not to fish and invertebrates, purely due to political bias, is pointed out. No basis exists for denying sentience to any life form as long as science is ignorant of the nature and source of consciousness.