Animals
Play, Smell and self-awareness !
In his book, " The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, " Charles Darwin pondered what animals might know about themselves.
He wrote: " It may be freely admitted that no animal is self-conscious, if by this term it is implied that he reflects on such points, as whence he comes or whither he will go, or what is life and death, and so forth. "
Darwin also championed the notion of evolutionary continuity and believed that animals had some sense of self. In the same book, he wrote, " Nevertheless, the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. "
Thus, there are shades of gray and not black-and-white differences between humans and other animals in cognitive abilities. So, while animals might not ponder life and death the way humans do, they still may have some sense of self.
