Jonny Thomson

"Aristotle argued there were three types of souls —each building on the last. 
  • First, is the vegetative soul: the basic, automatic functions of growth and nutrition. Your pot plants have this soul. 
  • Second, is the sensitive soul, which involves perception and awareness. Your dog has this. 
  • Finally, there is the rational soul —with intelligence, consciousness, and imagination. You have this.

"The big difference, however, is how widely these categories will stretch. 

"To make sense of vegetative and sensitive souls, Big Think spoke to Jonathan Birch about his new book The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI. 

"Not only does Birch believe we give too little credit to non-human animals, but he argues that the dawn of AI might be a unique moment in our planet’s history —the birth of a new type of soul."

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