What's On Your Mind? Your dog's mind?
My son gave me a textbook, “Cognitive Psychology,” and after reading that and corresponding with the author, Dr.E. Bruce Goldstein, I bought a copy of another book of his called “Sensation and Perception.” From Dr. Goldstein’s books, the anatomy and physiology I learned in veterinary school, and my own observation and introspection, I have some ideas about how minds work - ours and those of animals.
Humans and some animals form a virtual reality in the mind. Nothing comes into the mind but nerve impulses from the five senses. Nothing leaves the mind but more nerve impulses, which operate our muscles. It’s a little like a small “person” inside the mind who is continuously reading a flow of incoming Morse code and responding by sending Morse code back out. The term for such a “person” is a “homunculus.” The mind's virtual reality must be very much like reality or we wouldn't survive.
As in most humans, “I” am by far the most important part of the virtual reality in my mind. We all have a strong self-awareness. I don’t think dogs and cats are nearly as egotistical.
And I am quite sure that insects and lower life forms are profoundly different. I don’t think they have a virtual reality at all, much less any self-awareness. There is a very primitive species of worm that has only a few nerve cells that are sensitive to light. Those cells are almost directly connected to other nerve cells that are connected to muscles. The worm automatically moves toward light. When you try to swat a fly your hand changes the pattern of light stimulation of his compound insects eye and he automatically flies away. He spends no time making a decision, and is therefore very difficult to swat.
A similar thing can happen in a neurological examination of an injured dog with a possible spinal injury. If he cannot feel pain in a back foot, that indicates serious damage to the spinal cord. We pinch a toe really hard, perhaps using a forceps, and if the dog turns his head, yelps, or tries to bite, we conclude he can feel pain. If, however, all he does is pull his foot away, that does not mean he feels anything. As in the worm that crawls toward the light, dogs and humans, and other animals, have a simple protective circuit outside the mind. Nerves that sense pain connect in the spinal cord to other nerves that work the muscles that pull the limb away from the pain.
The virtual reality in the human mind can be enhanced and embellished by the input from conversation, watching movies, reading books and listening to music. We can derive great pleasure and excitement from these things. We can, in our virtual reality, vicariously experience anything from space travel on the Enterprise to a love affair with Romeo or Juliet.
I know of no evidence that dogs and cats are capable of any of these things. Some of them seem to recognize television images of birds and react to sounds of barking dogs or doorbells on the radio, but I’ve never seen one of mine develop sufficient interest to sit and watch even a half-hour re-run episode of Lassie.
This is not without some advantage to the dog or cat. In the virtual reality in our human minds we commonly play out scenarios where we lose our jobs, can’t pay the bills, or die in a car wreck or plane crash. The main thing dogs seem to worry about is not getting enough attention from humans.