Perhaps using the standard of self-inspection is flawed. Maybe we should test to see if an animal understands that an object in a mirror isn’t behind it but reflected away.
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An experiment might go like this: have an object if interest in visible in the mirror, and see if the animal will go for it towards the mirror or towards the direction in the reflection. Then the animal understands the reflection isn’t real.
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Interesting, but why is self-awareness seen as an on/off switch rather than a continuum? Machines might one day see ours as paltry for shutting off 1/3 of the time, being patchy and biased, lacking detailed introspection, having false memories, etc.
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The rush to anthropomorphize animals has always seemed irrational to me and motivated by an emotional need -- or something similar. I went back to the famous AOL chat Koko the Gorilla had in the 2000's and much of it is gibberish or creative interpretation by the handler.
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Or we're reckoning self-awareness through an anthro-centric lens, which is deeply silly.
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Well we only have the tools we have or know about. Or is there a way to reckon self-awareness without an anthro-centric lens?
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According to Wikipedia ants supposedly passed the test too. Don’t believe that one
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I think the bigger problem here is the assumption that [if sees self in mirror] AND [self recognizes] AND [sees mark] THEN [will necessarily groom]. The average elephant may just be a lowlife slob. Incidentally that's generally my opinion of elephants writ large.
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Or maybe they are not as obsessed as humans with their image?
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