Word: sentient
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...know that your roommates are conscious? No, not at 4 a.m. after copious libations have reduced them to senseless Neanderthals, but how do you know they are conscious, sentient beings to begin with? You might reason as follows: You are conscious (one can be fairly certain of that, most days) and when you interact with your roommates they behave as if their brains possessed the same characteristics that you attribute to your consciousness. Therefore, you attribute the characteristic of "conscious" to these other entities, your roommates. But this inherently subjective definition of consciousness opens the door wide for beings...