Thanks for the links. After reading them I have to state categorically that I reserve judgment until further evidence comes to light. (Hey, someone has to take the hard position.)
Seriously, if the wolf/human world domination hypothesis is a representative example, I would say that Dr Allman spins great tales out of small evidence.
No response on the identity/consciousness dichotomy. Am I the only one who has run across it?
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
I have to admit, there is a slight sense here the guy is out to sell a controversial book to regular folks. Only, it’s a bit long and detailed, more for the Scientific American reader than for the average college graduate.
Don’t believe everything you read in “The Times”. Here’s what one of the coauthor’s of the original paper had to say:
Also I’d like to point out that there’s considerable evidence that some levels of consciousness exists in animals that do not have these “consciousness neurons”. Note: I did not say self-awareness, only consciousness.
I do. But then I say smart people don’t have a soul either. At least, there is nothing that has ever shown that a soul exists, for either smart or stupid people.
Professor Allman has material in his books claiming a long relationship of man and dog. I have lunch with this old guy who’s a bit traditional and religious. I didn’t want to discusss the point of the OP, but the dog he was quite interested in. He summed it up as “so it was Adam and Eve and Fido, then.” I gave him a polite laugh. Wish I had more detail, I have not seen the book in stores to browse through it.
