NEW RESEARCH IS BLURRING THE SPECIES BOUNDARY

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NEW RESEARCH IS BLURRING THE SPECIES BOUNDARY

" ...We now understand that all vertebrates, and it is argued even

some invertebrates, share many biological structures and processes

that underlie attributes once considered uniquely human: empathy,

personality, culture, emotion, language, intention, tool-use and

violence. Furthermore, we are able to see beyond species differences

in ways we have never been able to before. Neuroimaging advances such

as PET and fMRI can help map more elusive subjective qualities-such

as emotion, states of consciousness and sense of self-to specific

regions of the brain...

 

....The idea that humans share a psyche with other animals is

enormously challenging... Concepts like sense of self, empathy and

intention have largely been considered exclusive to humans, and have

therefore defined what animals are not. Such perceived

dissimilarities have shaped theory, practice, law and custom for

centuries. The human-animal gap influences how we live, how we

formulate scientific questions, how we practice science and even what

we eat. Today, in contrast, models of species' similarity are

replacing models of difference, and the lines between species have

become increasingly blurred-blurred to the extent that many insist on

limits to stem cell-chimera research to avoid mixing the neuronal and

psychological capacities of humans and other species.

 

Accordingly then, today's theory, practice, law and customs in

science and society, which have been shaped by human-animal

dissimilarities, must be revised. Clearly, ethical considerations may

be compelled to change, but science itself is also affected... "

 

 

http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/06/no_longer_a_mind_of_our_own.php?utm_sou\

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