In the past, I was mulling this as a question of ‘consciousness’, but, have had to re-assess and re-define my understanding of the use of the Term: consciousness, recently. New developements in the science of Quantum Physics, have provided ways to experimentally evidence the consciousness that all material in the Universe shares, to varying extent. For further analysis, please read my past Article, titled; Re-defining Consciousness * Re-learning Ancient Wisdom http://dondanl.com/redefining-consciousness-re-learning-ancient-wisdom/
The question, then becomes; just what is intelligence, and what separates Human sentience from lesser forms?
In our history, this has been debated by both, Philosophical and Natural Sciences, even Mathematics, as a conglomerate called; Sacred Geometry, has attempted to discover what differentiates sentience. Physical values like toolmaking abilities or opposable Thumbs, have been proposed and discarded as requirements of intellect. This cognitive behavior has been found in many animals, like; Crows and other Fowl, Insect examples include Army (Legionary) Ants, many forms of Mammals: Horses, Dogs and Cats, and of course, Aquatic life, such as Dolphins and various Whales.
With so many examples of intellectual sentience, one might be tempted to think that there is no real separation between that found in animal or Human form. Many experiments have been done in the past 100 years, or so, Biological experiments have tended to equate sentience to proportional Brain size. This conclusion denies the documented cognitive behavior evident in even the smallest of animals and insects, both Crows and Honeybees can solve puzzles in controlled laboratory testing.
Since the late 1850s and Darwin’s proposal of the Human species as a Simian with “larger Brains” (which he later abandonded), most experiments included Chimpanzees and Great Apes. These tests seem geared to conclusions that communication and language were the divide of human-to-animal sentience. These experiments ended, abruptly, in the 1980s, when it became apparent that Dolphins and several species of Whales, through both private and Military tests, had proven their communication was better than humans and they had complex forms of language!
But, one experiment done in the 1960s, was a very simple, action and reward test, which included different species of Simian and children aged 3 to 5 years old, that may have stumbled to a correct conclusion. The experiment set the action of a round cylinder, with flat ends, to stand upright, with a food or candy reward when the action was done. Both, the children and the Simians were equally able to properly perform the task.
When the cylinder’s ends were altered, so they would not stand upright, the children were able to question the problem and then use other items (paper, clothing etc.) to stand the cylinder. None of the Simians tested could complete the test, instead would become frustrated, angry and/or give-up the effort.
The conclusion that the separation, in terms of the differences of inteliigence, was the ability to form the question: WHY, not the ability to use tools!
Although I would like to see this experiment repeated with other species, the use of children would likely be objectible, nowadays. There has been ongoing research with Dolphins and Whales, that show comparable intelligence to humans, using similar testing, but their ability to alter their environment is a vast chasm of sentience.
If consciousness is defined as identity or soul, if you will, then one of the requirements for sentience is individuality, another is complexity. I call this layered individuality, which increases as different species reach what is known as: critical mass. This is better known as; the 100th Monkey Effect, a 30 year long experiment involving Japanese scientists study involving Snow Monkeys. In summary; when 99 Snow Monkeys learned something new, the 100th monkey who also learned, triggered the same knowledge in the whole species. When Snow Monkeys on other islands suddenly exhibited the same patterns, though separated with no possible connection.
I conclude that related species sentience increases as their Collective Consciousness is altered, layer upon layer and individuals are able to access their summed complexity. Obviously species normally act in a Herd Mentality, but, when individuality increases, species sentience increases in like fashion.
As recently as Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla, and, at least as far back in written histories of Siddhartha Guatama, knowledge has been learned that has factually increased the whole of human sentience, they documented as recieving in trance or meditation. This is how we have leaped the wall enclosing our Herd Mentality.
So, when your child starts asking, “WHY is the Sky Blue?”, answer each question carefully and as fully as possible, if you don’t know the answer, you know how to point the direction! Make knowledge easily available and always honestly truthful, with eternal questioning we become an infinitely sentient species!