Stuff To Blow Your Mind The Edge of Sentience, with Jonathan Birch
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Nov 12, 2024 
Jonathan Birch, a philosophy professor at the London School of Economics, dives into the intricate world of sentience, covering topics from animal awareness to the ethical dilemmas surrounding AI. He critiques meat consumption while advocating for vegetarianism, emphasizing compassion for all sentient beings. Birch also tackles the complexities of defining sentience in both animals and artificial intelligence, urging a more nuanced dialogue on our moral obligations as society progresses in understanding consciousness across species.
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Sentience Defined By Feelings
- Jonathan Birch defines sentience as the capacity to have feelings that feel good or bad rather than broader notions of consciousness.
- He prefers sentience because it focuses on immediate sensations like pain and pleasure without requiring self-reflection.
Sentience Versus Consciousness
- Birch distinguishes sentience from broader forms of consciousness involving self-awareness and reflection.
- Sentience highlights immediate raw sensations rather than extended self-reflective consciousness.
Where Sentience Is Uncontroversial
- Consensus now accepts that all other mammals are sentient, shifting debates to fish and invertebrates.
- Sentience judgments become controversial particularly for animals separated from us by long evolutionary distance.
