There are some common associations in electrical signals emitted by both humans and animals!
One research gained a lot of traction in the scientific community when brought to the public in July 2012.
A group of renowned neuroscientists, neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, and neuroanatomists met at Cambridge University to publicize some surprising findings that began to break taboos and myths on the subject of animal awareness.
Nonetheless, the difficulties for research of such complexity, due to the inability of animals to express themselves in understandable parameters, the following conclusions show no margin of error:
The animals showed brain circuits homologous to those of humans, correlated with conscious experience and perception.
Artificial stimulation of specific brain regions generated behaviors and emotional states similar to those of humans, such as attention, sleep, and decision making.
Systems associated with affection, when stimulated, presented behavioral-electrophysiological states similar to those of humans.
Reaction patterns and decision-making similar to humans also exist in insects and cephalopod mollusks, such as octopuses.
Certain species of birds exhibited neural sleep patterns similar to those of mammals.
The Cambridge Declaration closed with the following conclusion:
"Consequently, the weight of evidence indicates that humans are not the only ones possessing the neurological substrates that generate consciousness. Non-human animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses, also have these neurological substrates."
What would be the level of plant awareness?
Establishing the pattern of plant awareness is an even more complicated task. According to scientists, plants have also developed life strategies very different from known patterns.
Conclusions about plant awareness so far discovered:
- Plants use electrical signals in two ways: to regulate the distribution of charged molecules through membranes and to send long-distance messages throughout the body.
- The leaves of a plant can be wound because ions’ movement produces water out of cells, which changes its shape. An insect bite on a leaf could initiate defense responses from distant leaves.
The plant's defensive system responds to stimuli such as returning to light or closing to capture an insect, as in carnivorous plants.
Plants have between 15 and 20 senses, such as human abilities to smell, taste, see, touch, and hear.
Plants produce neuron-like chemicals in animals, which allows them to respond to each other. It was when the trees caught the attention of scientists.
How aware are the trees?
In the world of plants, trees are included, of course. In this case, the progress of the findings has been surprising, as well. This impressive research has shown that trees are more evolved than you might think.
After analyzing the soil where several trees lived nearby, an incredible underground network of intertwined roots was discovered, having fungi linked to these neighboring trees’ connection!
The Vegetal Internet
The Vegetal Internet would aim not only at exchanging nutrients but also by exchanging alert messages due to an imminent threat!
Do microorganisms also have awareness?
Undoubtedly there is an immense - perhaps countless - amount of micro-beings inhabiting the planet. Generally, these tiny and invisible inhabitants’ best-known name is "microbe,” i.e., bacteria, fungi, viruses, or protozoa.
The microbiome is the name of the study on the group of microorganisms living in specific environments. All living beings without exception are "inhabited" by these communities of micro-beings.
Moreover, only 43% of the total cells are human once microorganisms form the rest of the inner human body itself!
Professor Ruth Ley, Director of the Department of Microbiology at the Max Planck Institute, a Ph.D. in Microbiome, taunted: "Your body is not just you. So your body depends a lot on what you do with it!"
Through digestion, for example, microorganisms regulate the immune system and protect your body against diseases, in addition to the production of essential vitamins.
Therefore, some questions regarding microorganisms’ not thoroughly answered, such as what determines the beginning of a specific task? Is their level of consciousness merely mechanical or otherwise?
The fact is that everyone should be more cautious because there is a world that is inhabited by many more conscious beings than one might imagine.
To harming animals is not acceptable to the environment because its sustainability depends on balancing all living beings, with no exception!
Perhaps this is the ideal time for new paradigms and customs to be put into practice because this is how humanity evolves from one cycle to another.