The Ultimate SOMA Discussion Thread

[GhylTarvoke]

How do you know that animals feel pain, or that robots don't? Why does it matter if something is artificial or biological? Everything in the universe is built from the same set of fundamental particles.

I had two dogs and believe me, they feel pain. People who say animals don't feel pain must be from moon.

Unless you're telepathic, your only evidence that they felt pain was their reaction. But Frictional's hypothetical robot reacts in the same way.

This is a reasonable assumption, but still an assumption. Our brains are far more complex than those of other animals. It's impossible for us to know what animals (even humans!) feel, or whether they're feeling anything at all.

Are you serious?

Dead serious. I believe animals can feel (in the philosophical sense, not merely the biological sense), because that's my instinct as a human being. But I can't prove it, and neither can anyone else. That's one of SOMA's main points.