Royal Institution

How did consciousness evolve? - with Nicholas Humphrey

Nicholas Humphrey presents an evolutionary account of consciousness. The Royal Institution explicitly flags his restriction of phenomenal consciousness to warm-blooded animals as controversial and contrary to broad scientific opinion.

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Royal Institution Nicholas Humphrey intermediate Duration unknown

Why it is here

Use as a clearly signposted contested case, comparing its claim about mammals, birds and invertebrates with the broader evidence discussed in the animal-consciousness reading.

Selection basis: editorial selection. Reason checked 2026-11-07 by agent.

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2026-11-07
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Level basis
Editorial estimate from the inspected scope: Full official description and chapter list inspected: blindsight, sensation versus perception, evolutionary function and animal sentience; recording date 21 June 2023. The publisher explicitly flags Humphrey’s exclusion of octopuses and bees from phenomenal consciousness as contrary to broad scientific opinion. The source does not provide a formal prerequisite list; this is a navigation aid, not a provider-issued classification.
Transcript
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Provenance and reuse

Royal Institution; original source https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/video/how-did-consciousness-evolve-nicholas-humphrey. Terms reserve rights and state personal/not-for-profit education scope. Their linking clause asks for email notice. No notice or outreach was sent; flag before external publication.. Links, factual metadata and original navigation annotations only. No source page, transcript, image, video or restricted platform metadata is included in the reusable export.

  1. providers-core-25dbe8d63263-source

    Full official description and chapter list inspected: blindsight, sensation versus perception, evolutionary function and animal sentience; recording date 21 June 2023. The publisher explicitly flags Humphrey’s exclusion of octopuses and bees from phenomenal consciousness as contrary to broad scientific opinion. Retrieved 2026-11-07.

  2. providers-source-86ce117e4a2eb00e

    Publisher description inspected; original short annotation written from that material. Retrieved 2026-11-07.

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