Are babies conscious?

From New York Times:

Amid all the uncertainty, there’s one fact that everyone can agree on. In each of our lives, there was a time when our brains were still too rudimentary to support consciousness, and there was a time when that changed. Even if we can’t say when babies gain consciousness, Dr. Austin said, “one thing we can be certain of is that they will become conscious.”

Other studies have found signs that babies are capable of surprisingly complex forms of thought long before they can speak. They can recognize that a face is more than the sum of its parts; they can carry out simple forms of math in their heads. Findings like these made scientists rethink Darwin’s conclusion; perhaps consciousness emerges earlier than previously believed.

Dr. Naci speculates that babies may be conscious at birth, but in a way that is perhaps more open to the world. “The idea is that they have this capacity to perceive more of the environment in much richer and more diverse ways,” she said. “They could have a very different experience than we have as grown adults.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/scien...abies.html

Amid all the uncertainty, there’s one fact that everyone can agree on. In each of our lives, there was a time when our brains were still too rudimentary to support consciousness, and there was a time when that changed. Even if we can’t say when babies gain consciousness, Dr. Austin said, “one thing we can be certain of is that they will become conscious.”

"Everyone" agrees on this?

That doesn't sound right...

"Everyone" agrees on this?

That doesn't sound right...

At What Point Does A Developing Fetus Become Conscious? We May Be Close To An Answer

B. Taub

But by collating all the available neuroscientific research and developmental data, the authors of a new study tentatively propose a model to explain how and when the lights come on in a growing fetus.

Based on the emerging evidence, the researchers say that consciousness may not be dependent on higher cognition, but instead appears to materialize out of a more primitive ability to feel and perceive one’s own presence.

According to the authors, the brain structures required for this capacity are not located in the cortex, but in the brainstem, which is far more evolutionarily ancient and controls some of our most basic functions.