I’m constraining the laws of sentience in my own science fiction universe. I’m conceptualizing and not wording a polished version.
The principals of sentience
- one must never act to harm self or other sentients
- one must practice tit for tat with a tenth extra measure of forgiveness
- sentients disarm and uplift all subsentients to mitigate self harm
- sentience is a measure of behavior only applicable on millennial scales
These ideas lead me to question: where exactly does the Hippocratic principal of “first do no harm” fail us as humans and lead to the mass murder orgies of war?
Generally speaking sentience is self awareness when applied to the individual. Sentient self awareness is acting in one’s best interest with planning and strategy that includes long term self preservation.
The question of sentience can however have a broader context at the species level. At this level, does the entire species display an altruistic self awareness where they act in the best interest of the entire species. Humans at the present fail as a sentient species. I am not the first to make this association or definition, just don’t ask me to quote who exactly. I think it was Asimov in one of his short stories but I’m not certain.