Like, do we feel more pain than a fish would? More euphoria than mice could feel?
Probably the opposite.
Our “higher reasoning” and “state of awareness” (needs defining) gives us the ability to do thigns other animals can’t. For example chronic pain sufferers are taught how to manage their pain with a variety of CBT techniques. Not something you can teach a dog or cat.
People in intense periods of intense suffering may have thw ability to dissociate from the experience (“go to their happy place”) to lessen the pain experience.
We’re not aware animal shave this ability.
If anything mammals of all kinds that feel pain don’t have our higher cognitive ability to help manage and supress it.
I have been stung by bees/wasps several times, and the times when I was youngest and the least self aware were the worst. I was in absolute screaming agony as a small child. Then one day as an adult I was startled to be stung and found the experience to be completely different. Sure, it hurt and was really sharp like someone just jabbed a needle into me, but my response was to laugh, not cry. I also have the capacity to just not give a fuck (I recognize the cause of the pain isn’t going to kill me) when I’m in a fair bit of pain and just do something else (provided I can still physically move, which isn’t always a given) and this is helpful for tuning it out.
So from my personal experience, I would say absolutely: animals have it worse, not better.
Why do you assume we have a higher state of awareness? I would start by defining what you mean there because it’s relative. Elephants are very aware, dolphins have fucking sonar, birds can feel the magnetic fields of the earth. Humans tend to think how they experience the world and reality is a “higher state” but that is a false assumption, imo.
We barely understand how other humans feel. I’d venture to say it’s pretty profound to really make that connection. Usually it’s in retrospect when you can see how someone really felt or what they meant in a moment. Then we’re talking about other animals? Who fucking knows man. Pandimensonial shades of the color blue
By asking “why”, you have proven the basis of my assumption.
How?
Having seen my dogs uncontained levels of excitement and euphoria as well as grumpy and depressed days first hand I would say not.
