Elephants are Self-Aware
Posted on October 31, 2006 - Filed Under Environment/Conservation, Life-In-General | 4 Comments
Elephants in the Bronx Zoo in New York recently passed the ‘mirror test’, meaning that they recognised their reflection in a mirror as exactly that, and did not confuse it with another elephant. I was trying to think of a way to play up the significance of this (and it is very significant in some respects), but essentially I just think it’s very cool. The only other animals to have passed this test so far are bottle-nosed dolphins and the great-apes (which includes ourselves). Since I think self-awareness is an important determining factor in when a genuinely human life begins (I think it’s sometime between 2 and 3 years old, which probably marks me out as a total prick in many people’s books), I guess this means that I think elephants have more of a right to life than young human infants, at least based on this criterion.
Staying on animal-related news, a new puppy has arrived chez-Boland. He’s a Rhodesian Ridgeback and his name is Samwise. Pictures in the coming days.
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4 Responses to “Elephants are Self-Aware”
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What age were these elephants? I’m only asking because I don’t know are people/elephants born self aware, though i’d imagine not.
I’ve heard the arguement that an animal can have more right to life than a person but normally this is when the person is functionally dead (in a coma, etc). I see you added on the disclaimer “based solely on these criterion” so do you think that an elephant has more of a right to life than a human infant who will mental outstrip the elephant in a few years?
If we’re going to go down that road then I’d be obliged to also concede that a zygote cell which, like a human infant, has the potential to become a fully functioning human has more of a right to life than a mighty, self-aware elephant, so in answer to your question, yes. If we look at this soley from the perspective of the animals involved, the elephant has more of a claim to life than the child in my opinion. If the elephant understand that it exists, and the child does not, then surely the elephant would lose more in death than the infant.
So do you think that recognising yourself in a mirror is the same as being aware of ones own existence and realising a purpose in life above simple reproduction?
I got the impresssion from the article that scientists agree that the mirror test is a sufficient test for self-awareness, as in being aware of one’s own existence.
I believe that “realising a purpose in life above simple reproduction” is a subjective interpretation of what self-awareness entails. I certainly don’t consider that I have (or that there is, if that’s what you meant the phrase) any purpose in life above simple reproduction, and personnally I’m not too keen on that either.