ThoughtfulAnimals searches for consciousness in animals with crowdfunded scientific experiments
StartupRealities No 163
ThoughtfulAnimals is an animal rights organisation which designs behavioural and philosophical experiments with animals to explore their degree of consciousness and comprehension of the meaning of life. The company funds these experiments through crowdfunding campaigns. The agenda of the organisation is contained in its mission: "to prove to the world that animals are conscious, thinking and feeling beings at the highest level." The experiments the company conducts follow the highest standard of rigour and replicability, under the "randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind" format. Most of the experiments, where possible, are recorded on video and some are even webcast live as they are being performed, open to all crowdfunding supporters to watch online.
CEO QUOTE
"We think animals don't measure up to us, humans, in intelligence and emotions. But how can we know for certain? Animals don't respond to the same incentives that drive our behaviour. We need a lot more sophisticated experiments to prove what's happening inside their mind - and these are the type of experiments that we are designing. So far we know that rats show remorse and that pigs get excited by challenges. But there is so much more out there to be discovered." - said ThoughtfulAnimals founder and CEO Thomas Aniston.
ThoughtfulAnimals is an animal rights organisation which designs behavioural and philosophical experiments with animals to explore their degree of consciousness and comprehension of the meaning of life. The company funds these experiments through crowdfunding campaigns. The agenda of the organisation is contained in its mission: "to prove to the world that animals are conscious, thinking and feeling beings at the highest level." The experiments the company conducts follow the highest standard of rigour and replicability, under the "randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind" format. Most of the experiments, where possible, are recorded on video and some are even webcast live as they are being performed, open to all crowdfunding supporters to watch online.
CEO QUOTE
"We think animals don't measure up to us, humans, in intelligence and emotions. But how can we know for certain? Animals don't respond to the same incentives that drive our behaviour. We need a lot more sophisticated experiments to prove what's happening inside their mind - and these are the type of experiments that we are designing. So far we know that rats show remorse and that pigs get excited by challenges. But there is so much more out there to be discovered." - said ThoughtfulAnimals founder and CEO Thomas Aniston.
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| Domestic pigs (image source: Wikipedia) |
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