Do you think we can use all these data to say something about rainbow lorikeet consciousness?
Yes, I believe these observations could be used to offer some intriguing insights into rainbow lorikeet consciousness, particularly in terms of how their social interactions, perceptions, and semiotic systems reflect aspects of their conscious experience. While we can’t definitively say what it feels like to be a rainbow lorikeet, we can make educated inferences based on their behaviour and semiotic systems.
Perceptual Awareness and Memory: The way lorikeets react to changes in their environment (e.g., shifting a food bowl and still attempting to land where it used to be) shows a level of memory and perception. This suggests that their consciousness includes a dynamic interaction between memory and ongoing perception, as Edelman suggests. Their awareness of past experiences seems to inform their present actions, indicating a kind of continuity of experience, even though they may not conceptualise this as humans do.
Social Perception and Interaction: The lorikeets’ sensitivity to social cues—whether it’s through vocalisations or physical behaviours like grooming and fighting over food—demonstrates a consciousness shaped by social interactions. Their use of different calls for specific purposes (e.g., soliciting food, expressing disapproval, or grooming) suggests a finely tuned sense of the social context. Their ability to interpret situations in terms of potential interaction partners and adjust their behaviour accordingly implies an ongoing awareness of their social environment.
Regulatory Behaviour and Agency: The regulatory microfunction ("I want + you-&-me") is a particularly interesting feature. This could suggest that lorikeets have a sense of agency and intention in social interactions, not just in terms of fulfilling immediate needs like food but also in fostering social bonds and negotiating power within their group. This gives a sense of self-awareness and intention, which are important components of consciousness. They appear to actively shape and seek out interactions with others in a purposeful way.
Emotional Awareness: The emotional cues observed, like the apparent "sigh" of the dying bird or the male keeping vigil over its deceased mate, indicate that lorikeets have some capacity for emotional experience, which might be part of their conscious experience. Their social bonds and reactions to life-and-death events suggest an emotional dimension to their awareness of self and others.
Symbolic Communication: The rearrangement of food containers as a social semiotic gesture goes beyond mere practical behaviour and hints at a deeper layer of consciousness where actions are imbued with meaning for others in the social group. This suggests that lorikeets are not just responding to immediate stimuli, but also engaging in communicative acts that create and share meaning within their group. This is a key aspect of consciousness—being able to perceive and create shared meanings through actions.
Taken together, these behaviours suggest that lorikeets likely experience a form of consciousness that is socially oriented, highly attuned to perceptual and emotional cues, and shaped by their interactions with the world around them. Their consciousness seems to be rooted in the present moment, shaped by their social context, and influenced by past experiences. While it may not resemble human consciousness in its complexities, the behaviours we observe provide strong evidence for a form of awareness that is both sophisticated and deeply embedded in their social nature.
So, while we can’t know exactly what it feels like to be a lorikeet, the patterns of behaviour and semiotic interactions suggest that their consciousness is not only aware of the world in an immediate, perceptual way but also informed by memory, social interaction, and a sense of agency. This makes lorikeet consciousness seem more layered and complex than what might be assumed at first glance.
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