On a related note, I can't find it right now and I'm about to sleep, but I remember reading that (at least some) ants also pass the blue-dot mirror self-awareness test. It's a fascinating topic, even though unfortunately the question of consciousness will remain a hard unsolvable question (except for your own consciousness).
this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2025
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That was a great read, well-written and interesting. Thanks for sharing.
This has blown my mind. The article makes the point that they achieve this sentience with only 1 million neurons! This is so nuts.
It used to be thought birds were stupid because their brains were so small relative to mammal brains, and neuronal organisation quite different. Now, it's understood birds are as intelligent as most mammals, because their brains, though small, are densely packed with neurons and glia, which gives them the power to rapidly analyse and react to sensory input, and reason their way through problems on a par with even young humans. Who's to say what a million neurons, also pretty densely packed due to the very small space they have to work with, are capable of? The brain evolves what each species needs to master their physical and social environment -- perhaps bees have already mastered quantum physics!
For real though. The more we learn about nature, the more of a tragedy it is what we're doing to the planet.