• umbrella
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    7 months ago

    i have always assumed its on a spectrum

    • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Same,more neurons create more complexity but not necessarily more acute distress. Although you could imagine there’s only so much distress a 100 neurons could create. That being said if you watch a bacteria get killed by another it quite clearly is not enjoying it

      • emptiestplace
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        7 months ago

        Would it not be relative? If sentience were to emerge from just 100 neurons, wouldn’t their experience of terror be the same as our own? I mean, you could argue that ego is required for true suffering, but I think there is a more fundamental biological aspect that ensures all species capable of moving out of the fire are incentivized to do so.

        • Ferris@infosec.pub
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          7 months ago

          how much do you value a couple chemicals floating around and locking into place, circumstantially?

      • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        Watching a bacteria enjoying or not something is pareidolia. It’s reacting, for sure, and activating emergency responses.