Do spiders have a consciousness?

As much as I hate spiders, I can't help but feel sorry for them. I mean, of all the creatures to come to life as?

I hope they have no self awareness because I kill every one I see. They give me the creeps and I cannot tolerate their existence in my living space.

You have to kill spiders, even if you're peaceloving. You didn't invite them to live in your house, and they will bite you in the middle of the night. Kill 'em.

You could catch them and put them outside, although I guess there's a chance they'll just end up back inside. Really though, the vast majority of spiders are harmless to people and just eat other bugs, so killing them just because they 'look scary' is kind of silly.

I had a tarantula. It was interesting considering it only cost 5 dollars.

Anyway...

I got blackout drunk one night and I must have done something with it, because the next day it wasn't in my dorm room. I imagine the possibility of someone in my building encountering my lost tarantula. Must of been a horrific surprise!

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

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.

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.

proof that god doesn't exist

Short answer to your question is yes. All living organisms on earth do.

yes sirr wrote:

Short answer to your question is yes. All living organisms on earth do.

wait so are you saying that the bamboo plant i have in my bathroom has consciousness?

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.

Maybe you ate it

This is a good question, and I would say it depends.

Thomas Nagel

"What is it like to be a bat?"

http://www.clarku.edu/students/philosophyclub/docs/nagel.pdf

David Chalmers

"What is it like to be a thermostat?"

http://consc.net/notes/lloyd-comments.html

Alan Turing

"Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

http://loebner.net/Prizef/TuringArticle.html

I was wondering something very similar today. I was thinking do spiders know that something is trying to kill them when I go to step on them, or do they just know that they will be killed if they don't move away from what is about to hit them.

I'm sure they have a consciousness, albeit limited phantasy and creative abilities. Some spiderwebs do look pretty decent though. I don't kill spiders, they are kind of helpful in the household when it comes to fighting mosquitoes and other nasty animals ;)

I like your style wrote:

I was wondering something very similar today. I was thinking do spiders know that something is trying to kill them when I go to step on them, or do they just know that they will be killed if they don't move away from what is about to hit them.

I would say neither. their perceptual organs register a certain stimulus that provokes an instinctual or conditioned response (e.g. "shadow overhead"="move"). to even call it "awareness of danger" is probably attributing too much "reason" to such an organism.

notorious lier wrote:

I'm sure they have a consciousness, albeit limited phantasy and creative abilities. Some spiderwebs do look pretty decent though. I don't kill spiders, they are kind of helpful in the household when it comes to fighting mosquitoes and other nasty animals ;)

Hope one doesn't bite your dong man.

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)

Their brains aren't complicated enough for them to have a consciousness. How big's a spider's brain, a pinpoint?