And does this negate the “mirror test” idea? That is, an animal failing to recognise that the creature in the mirror is themselves, but can recognise themselves in water, shows that their problem isn’t with the concept of reflectivity or “self”, but something about the mirror’s version of themselves that they can’t quite grasp?

A follow-up question: Does an animal recognise its own shadow, and does this count as a kind of “self-awareness” when their shadow is moving around in the world but they don’t lose their mind over it?

Thank you!

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.worldEnglish
    17·
    10 days ago

    Two thoughts:

    • You don’t see a reflection in water when you look straight down at it—only when you look at an angle that depends on the refraction index. So when you look at a distant animal in the water and see its reflection below it, that doesn’t mean the animal itself can see that reflection. Like you, they can see the reflections of other animals in the distance, but they can’t normally see their own.

    • The reflections animals are used to seeing are always mirrored vertically due to the horizontal orientation of the water surface—the upside-down orientation is probably an intrinsic part of their understanding of what a reflection is. So when they see something mirrored horizontally, it’s missing two of what experience has taught them to be fundamental characteristics of reflections—vertical inversion and an oblique viewing angle.