Sentience

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I had a friend who believed that humans did not achieve sentience (self awareness) until sometime in their 20s.

Consequently, for her, there was little difference between a child and, say, a dog or a cat. A child may have more sapience (knowledge, understanding and ability to reason), but it was not sentient.

A rather severe opinion, but I suppose it could be argued that people achieve sentience at various times in their life - or, perhaps, never.

Comments

KL said…
How do you define self-awareness? I had a dog who was absolutely mad at any dog, ferociously mad and jealous of any other dogs. But, he would never bark at his image in the mirror. Even when I used to decorate him and show his face on the mirror, he would not do anything, yawn and just move away. That is an example of self-awareness - he could identify himself in the mirror.
August 26, 2006 1:21 PM
RennyBA said…
Interesting question and I'm not sure age matter. I've seen human achieving Sentience long before 20 and some never at all.
Have a wonderful weekend Richard:-)
August 26, 2006 3:19 PM
Richard said…
kl: It came up during a conversation where she said that while she was happy as a child, she really was not aware - anymore than a dog or cat might be.

We used to have a dog as well who did not know she was a dog, since she acted in definitely non-dog ways.

rennyba: It is one of those things we could no doubt debate for hours.
August 26, 2006 4:13 PM
Mother of Invention said…
It is complicated or doesn't need to be. Is it the same as self-actualization? Or self-realization? Or does it mean to know all parts of yourelf? Any way, I think none is ever fully achieved as we are always changing and evolving, adding new layers to ourselves from the inside out, ot the outside in....the whole onion deal.
August 26, 2006 9:36 PM
Just me said…
I think it depends on the person. Take my sons for example. Both have their moments when they have the self-awareness but it is much less frequent than an adult. Although I know some adults who rarely show it.
August 27, 2006 2:08 AM
Richard said…
MOI: as mentioned to rennyba, it is something we can debate for a long time. I simply shared a piece of a conversation I had many years ago.

freckled-one: there is no question that kids show to varying degrees some sense of self-awareness. But, as I have mentioned seveal times already, I just presented a thought a friend of mine shared with me.
August 27, 2006 9:55 AM
vina said…
age definitely does not matter...yes, some people might not even get to achieve self-awareness at all!
August 28, 2006 10:10 AM
tin-tin said…
some never. but some earlier in life. depending on their experience, i guess :)
August 29, 2006 4:58 AM
B said…
As others alluded to...the definition of self awareness is crucial to this debate. Is it simply acknowledgment of oneself? I think that as we grow older, the potentiality to have a richer understanding of who we are, why we act/react certain ways/etc, given the amount of experiences we acquire. Yes, all of this is highly relative...a very interesting and complex debate.

(I know this is my thrid comment on your blog today! I really enjoy reading your posts!)
September 01, 2006 12:04 AM
Richard said…
vina: I am sure the question of self awareness is something that is easily interpreted differently by each person who is asked to define it.

matt: I have no knowledge or awareness of Singer.

tin-tin: Is sentience something we can measure?

breal: comment as many times as you like (I impose no limits - though I may sometimes be slow to respond).
September 01, 2006 8:49 AM
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