The search for invertebrate consciousness.
Nous March 1, 2022 Jonathan Birch 227 citations
The debate over whether invertebrates are conscious lacks both agreement and a clear methodology. Three approaches exist: theory-heavy, theory-neutral, and theory-light. Theory-heavy and theory-neutral approaches have serious problems, so the author advocates a middle path: the theory-light approach. This approach relies on a minimal hypothesis: that conscious perception of a stimulus facilitates, relative to unconscious perception, a cluster of cognitive abilities related to that stimulus. This 'facilitation hypothesis' can guide research into invertebrate consciousness. The author argues that what is needed now is not more theory or undirected data gathering, but a systematic search for consciousness-linked cognitive abilities, their relationships, and their sensitivity to masking.