RARE PHOTOS: Wholesome animals act like humans | Rare Historical Photos

As an introduction to the subreddit, one of its moderators u/gugulo, advises people to read "Are We in Anthropodenial?" by Dutch primatologist and ethologist, Frans de Waal.

"r/LikeUs is a place to gather and discuss evidence showing animal consciousness, intelligence, and emotion. [It] is not simply another version of r/aww. Posts that are cute but show little intelligent or emotional behavior do not belong here," another moderator, u/sydbobyd, explained.

"r/LikeUs is also not the place to post examples of animals (or inanimate objects) simply posing/dressing like a human or being personified. This seems to be a common and understandable confusion of the subreddit name, but our goal is not to show animals who just happen or are manipulated by humans to look human.

"This will always leave gray areas of course, but we hope that this may alleviate some of the confusion we've seen lately," the moderator said.

The moderators sort posts into 5 categories: 1) best content (think intelligent behavior, complex emotions, scientific articles, philosophy discussions), 2) good content (intentional behavior, unusual behavior, skillful behavior), 3) OK content (expressions, reactions, curiosity), 4) bad content (funny, cute, play), and 5) very bad content (misleading, fake, spam), and they clean up the subreddit accordingly. Needless to say, most of these posts belong at the top!

After years of taking care of the subreddit, moderators have learned a lot about animals themselves. "Mammals have a really good memory. Some orangutans learn how to fish, [and dogs can know] they're at the vet," the team writes. "Having such good memories means they remember their suffering. For instance, [some cows were recorded being happy for returning to pasture after a long winter."

"Emotionally, mammals are very developed, like us. They share with us many of our feelings, such as fear and love. Their emotions can be every bit as troubling as ours. They can be depressed so much, they won't even eat!"

"Even our distant relatives, the cetaceans are very aware and very playful fellows. [One] Humpback Whale, for instance, realizes she's been saved from a fishing net and lets her rescuers know she is thankful," the moderators recalled some of the best content.

"Non-mammal animals on the other hand appear to be quite different from us, but birds always find ways to puzzle us. Apparently, they like to have fun! The crow is probably the smartest bird there is! Birds, in general, are very aware of what their peers are doing."

The moderators say that evidence of animals' consciousness is everywhere! So every time you find some, remember to share it with them.

Questions about animal consciousness — especially, which animals have consciousness and what (if anything) that consciousness might be like — are both scientific and philosophical. They are scientific because answering them requires gathering information using scientific techniques and they are philosophical because progress will ultimately require interdisciplinary work by philosophers willing to engage with the empirical details of animal biology, as well as scientists who are sensitive to the philosophical complexities of the issue.

Analyzing this topic often raises more questions than it answers, but it would be of little interest if it were otherwise.

For many philosophers, the topic of animal consciousness is no longer only of peripheral interest; there is increasing interest in animal cognition from a range of philosophical perspectives, including ethics, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of science.

Philosophers working in all of these areas are increasingly attentive to the particular details of scientific theory, methods, and results.

Many scientists and philosophers believe that the groundwork has been laid for addressing at least some of the questions about animal consciousness in a philosophically sophisticated yet empirically tractable way. However, there are critics from both sides: on the one hand are those who still think that subjective phenomena are beyond the pale of scientific research, and on the other are those who think that science and philosophy have not moved far enough or fast enough to recognize animal consciousness. And the arguments on both sides are by no means exhausted.