I believe animals differ in temperament but personality/conscious thought?
I would highly suggest introducing yourself to some parrots. I've had at least thirty or more different species in my lifetime, and hands down, if you want an animal with a personality, look to a parrot. Or some other kinds of birds. It's really not just temperament. Even my lovebirds, with their tiny brains, have all sorts of preferences and responses and whims and moods. Bigger parrots can sometimes be on a similar level of intelligence as human infants.
Conscious thought? I really don't think we can ever know. Yeah, obviously animals don't think on the same level we do, but I think we don't give them enough credit sometimes--and in some people's cases, give them too much. The truth is that there is no way to ever know what's going on in an animal's mind; we can read behaviours all we want, determine that they have feelings and desires, but I don't think they have, say, opinions. But that's just as well, because opinions make people assholes.
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I would highly suggest introducing yourself to some parrots. I've had at least thirty or more different species in my lifetime, and hands down, if you want an animal with a personality, look to a parrot. Or some other kinds of birds. It's really not just temperament. Even my lovebirds, with their tiny brains, have all sorts of preferences and responses and whims and moods. Bigger parrots can sometimes be on a similar level of intelligence as human infants.
Conscious thought? I really don't think we can ever know. Yeah, obviously animals don't think on the same level we do, but I think we don't give them enough credit sometimes--and in some people's cases, give them too much. The truth is that there is no way to ever know what's going on in an animal's mind; we can read behaviours all we want, determine that they have feelings and desires, but I don't think they have, say, opinions. But that's just as well, because opinions make people assholes.