XPost: alt.paranormal.reincarnation   
   From: kimbawlionATaolDOTcom@127.0.0.1   
      
   On Mon, 17 May 2004 08:41:09 -0400, Ukes    
   wrote:   
      
   >There is no question that some animals "think", but thinking doesn't   
   >constitute the type of "self-consciousness" that equates with the   
   >"soul". Rather, self-conciousness involves the ability of one to think   
   >about  thinking (or as I said earlier, to be aware of being aware).   
      
   Awareness has to include awareness of being aware, or else it's not fully   
   functional.   
      
   >the capacity for self   
   >consciousness is closely related to questions about "theory of mind"   
   >in nonhuman animals -- whether any animals are capable of attributing   
   >mental states to others.   
      
   Again, this is completely obvious to anyone who cares to act as if it was   
   obvious.   
      
   On the other hand, if you act as if another being has no awareness,   
   sentience, thought, feelings, you won't observe it and likely the other   
   won't express it very obviously. This nature of interaction can be seen in   
   human-human relationships.   
      
   >the most attention focused on chimpanzees and to a more limited extent   
   >on the other great apes.   
      
   That has to do with the nature of expression. Those animals' expressions of   
   what's going on in their minds are closer to humans'. Animals that are not   
   so physically similar to humans require greater understanding.   
      
   Myself, I tend to think the defining characteristic of humanity is not   
   self-awareness but the ability to deny the obvious.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)