I think that it can help us better make decisions about current interventions (such as humane insecticides) as well as understand consciousness better so that we can create happy minds and not create suffering minds. The two main ways that I see this research having an impact is by better informing us to make decisions about improving well-being and by functioning as a form of indirect advocacy. In addition to the agent-neutral reasons I will present in this post about why we might want to focus more resources on invertebrate sentience, I think I have a strong comparative advantage in doing invertebrate sentience research compared to other things that we have strong reasons to focus on, like AI safety research. My position on sentience is relatively similar to Luke MuehlhauserвЂ™s, as presented in his Report on Consciousness and Moral Patienthood. IвЂ™m generally not talking about cephalopod sentience because cephalopods have a much stronger case for their sentience already, they are much less numerous than smaller invertebrates, and more people are already concerned for their welfare. This would mean that invertebrate sentience research would also contribute to research on vertebrate sentience, though this would not be the priority. If youвЂ™re interested in funding me or collaborating please get in touch! Use the term 'sentience' synonymously with 'phenomenal consciousness.'Дoing research on invertebrate sentience would also tend to involve some research on vertebrate sentience because much of the literature of which criteria to use to assess sentience is done in the context of vertebrates. IвЂ™ve also spent around the last nine months studying it.

IвЂ™ve now finished a contract with Rethink Priorities on invertebrate sentience. I donвЂ™t have a strong academic background in this area (I just have a philosophy BA) but IвЂ™ve been especially interested in the question for around six years now.

I wrote this post because IвЂ™m looking to get feedback on my plans, to describe a neglected research path to others, and to seek funding for continuing to research in this area.

Digital sentience