Ok, its like this
An elephant and a dog are going to be tested. The scientists stick them infront of a mirror, and ask the question "are any of these creatures self-aware?"
The elephant acts like a typical self-aware creature is expected to. Grooming themselves and wondering what the mark on there head is. So we have gone from possibly self-aware to self-aware beyond resonable doubt.
The dog reacts in various ways, sometimes even attacking the mirror. In this case we cant be sure the dog is or isn't self-aware, but that doesn't take away from the fact that the elephant displayed the characteristics of how we expect a self-aware creature to act.
We may need a specialized test for the dog, but the test was useful in proving the elephant was self-aware.
Can't see it.
do the same test with a man and a woman
what are the results?
teen age girls LIVE in front of mirrors...I had two sisters...I know this.
boys...not so much. Two totally different results.
I'm thinking that the mirror test isn't much of a test. It doesn't provide conclusive results.
No thats actually a great argument.
The results can be inconclusive, but only when the participants fail. The man walks infront of the mirror and pays it little attention. Now this does not mean the man isnt self-aware. So here the results would be inconclusive.
However the woman gets infront of the mirror and brushes her hair, and puts on makeup. Typical human grooming behavior, so in this case it can be concluded that the woman is self-aware.
Therefor the test was useful in proving the woman's awareness even if not useful in proving or disproving the mans.