I read books that I can find. Also, I try to familiarize myself with contemporary debates about consciousness. Sometimes, contemporary books are not present in my library. That’s why I appreciate the endeavors of some authors to publish open-access books. It is very important for the spread of the knowledge, and it doesn’t leave out any potential readers. If I publish a book, it will certainly be open access. However, this time I read the book by Jonathan Birch, “The Edge of Sentience”. It’s open-access and (I think) an important read for many.

The overwhelming majority of people would not want other people to suffer. The majority of people would not want dogs or cats to suffer. Some people would not want fish to suffer. There are people who would not want a fly to suffer. It is relatively easy to decide whether measures for avoiding suffering should be implemented if it is evident that those who are about to suffer will feel the pain. It is not entirely clear how to navigate in situations when attributing a feeling of pain is not straightforward. The overarching goal of the book is to suggest the way to operate in the latter cases.

Sentience, in the author’s definition, is the capacity or ability to have conscious experiences that are valenced, meaning that it feels good or feels bad. The edge of sentience is thus a case when we are not entirely sure (”not entirely” may be a broader spectrum) whether the creature under question can feel pain. The author proposes principles to navigate the edge of sentience.

The principles may sound obvious to some, but apparently throughout the years they were not obvious for everybody.

The first principle is to avoid groundless suffering, suffering for no reason. The second principle is to require precautions if the creature can be a sentient candidate (there is a possibility that it is sentient). The third principle is about proportionality; that is, the measures implemented should be appropriate, adequate, and reasonable. Moreover, the measures should be debated in open democratic ways with the participation of both experts as well as informed citizens.

The book covers several large groups of cases that should be put under debate. Those are people with disorders of consciousness (for example, an unresponsive or “vegetative” state), fetuses and embryos, and neural organoids (part of a human brain grown in the lab), fish, crabs, and octopuses, insects, and artificial intelligence. Each chapter reviews possible sentience candidates.

There are many interesting studies covered in the book that may suggest that an animal may be a sentience candidate. There are also some very disturbing examples of horrible wrongdoings that have happened in the past or are happening right now due to a lack of regulations or clearly deleterious regulations.

I'll give a few examples of interesting studies. In one study with octopuses, when animals were placed in a water chamber sprayed with acid, they began to disfavor this particular chamber and, in addition, displayed possible pain-related behaviors, such as skin scraping, that diminished when pain-relief medication was administered. In another study, when bees were put under stress, they demonstrated pessimistic biases, for instance, seeing danger in uncertain situations.

Here are few examples of disturbing cases. In shrimp farming, a common practice is to cut the eye stacks of female individuals. It doesn’t destroy the vision completely but severely impairs it. Somehow, this procedure increases the number of eggs that females lay. This procedure is questionable because impaired vision can be stressful for an individual, but also because quite commonly the ablation is performed without anesthesia. Another example is the inhumane slaughter of crayfish, such as boiling them alive. In some countries, it’s possible to buy an alive lobster and kill it yourself in any way.

The book, however, is not a guide on how to become vegan. Rather, the author discusses openly the issues and makes particular suggestions.

I can recommend the book to anyone. It is nicely structured and written in a clear, down-to-earth language, with highlighted important messages and summaries after every chapter. I am vegan, but I hate insects. After finishing the book, I feel softened to insects as well (although if the fly tries to eat my jelly, I will fight back). Moreover, the author doesn’t leave the feeling of an expert pointing their finger and telling what to do. Instead, it feels more like you talk to a friend who also doesn’t have all the answers but has a willingness for an open discussion and compassion for all parties involved. Even for those who are not interested in consciousness or sentience, the book can be a path to discovering topics related to their daily lives.

Favorite quote: “Sometimes the public’s perspective can be a valuable corrective to expert biases. “

March, 2025