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As recently as just a few decades ago, the interconnected web of experiences, thoughts and emotions known as a ‘stream of consciousness’ was widely believed to belong to humans alone. A still-accumulating body of evidence, however, strongly indicates that consciousness is far from unique to us. Rather, according to the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, which was signed by a group of leading scientists in 2012, it’s possessed by ‘nonhuman animals, including all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses’.
So when and why did consciousness spring from the tree of life? This brief explainer from BBC Reel outlines one groundbreaking new theory from Eva Jablonka at Tel Aviv University and Simona Ginsburg at the Open University of Israel. Centred on a concept called ‘unlimited associative learning’ – the ability to link events and outcomes, and change behaviours accordingly – their theory proposes that the advent of consciousness some 500 million years ago gave way to an evolutionary ‘arms race’ in sophisticated thinking.
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Personality
Why one man spent 15 years in ‘self-imposed’ island exile
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Death
Even in modern secular societies, belief in an afterlife persists. Why?
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Nature and landscape
Take a serene hike through an ancient forest, inspired by a Miyazaki masterpiece
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Design and fashion
The mundane becomes mesmerising in this deep dive into segmented displays
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Physics
A song of ice, fire and jelly – exploring the physics and history of the trumpet
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Spirituality
Trek alongside spiritual pilgrims on a treacherous journey across Pakistan
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Animals and humans
An artist and ants collaborate on an exhibit of ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’
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Mathematics
How a curious question about colouring maps changed mathematics forever
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Meaning and the good life
The world turns vivid, strange and philosophical for one plane crash survivor
16 minutes