Futureproof Extra: The Origins of Sentience
From day one we feel our way into, and through, the world. \n\nBy utlising a complex array of sensory receptors that grow and evolve as we mature, we come to understand not just everything we encounter in our external lives but also in our internal lives as well. \n\nWe are sentient beings. \n\nBut what is sentience and when did it arise in animals? \n\nAnd why are we sentient at all? \n\nNicholas Humphrey is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics. He is the author of many books on the evolution of human intelligence and consciousness, the latest being \u2018Sentience: The Invention of Consciousness' - available in all good bookshops or online - he joins Jonathan to discuss.