Do spiders have a consciousness?

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Neither, they are guided by instinct but have the ability to learn. However, they do not have self awareness

So they have more on the ball than this fake coach who never seems to learn.

Mr. Conundrum wrote:

When a human mother nutures her baby we call it love.

When an animal mother nutures her young we call it instinct developed because it increases the chances of the mother's gene's being passed to future generations.

What's the difference? I am pretty sure there is one but I would like some one to articulate it.

(A few species of spiders, not many, have some care for their young)

I would say the difference lies most strongly in what we have been talking about on this thread: self-reflexive consciousness versus simple consciousness (if you can even call it consciousness). a human mother is aware of her relationship to her child, and therefore can expand upon its meaning in her mind. this is reinforced by the relationship itself--certain behaviors and interactions elicit more reflections and increase the complexity and depth of the relationship; thereby warranting a more sophisticated label (in fact, not simply in name) than instinct ("love").

ukathleticscoach is a fraud wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Neither, they are guided by instinct but have the ability to learn. However, they do not have self awareness

So they have more on the ball than this fake coach who never seems to learn.

The expression is 'they are more on the ball' Keep changing your user name and try again!

seems like perhaps something was lost on you.a spider is an eating machine, driven by instinct. if you were the fly caught in the web, it would eat you with no remorse, no caring, just like you eat a Biggie fires and Big Mac, nothing more, nothing less."And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment. Because it's judgment that defeats us. "

repeater wrote:

5.99 chicken deal wrote:

put yourself into this scenario, shrink yourself down to the size of a fly, then become ensnared in the spider's web and ask yourself the same question.

not sure how this is proof of a fly having consciousness. something can be 'distressed' without knowing they're distressed.

My friend gave me a young Rio Grande Gold tarantula for my birthday yesterday.

I had a Black Widow for a pet a long time ago and I always speak lovingly about her. My friend decided I needed another spider. I hope it is a female because they live for 10 years and males only live for 2.

Ummm . . . ever heard of Charlotte A. Cavatica?