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| {{Status|Canon}} | | {{Ratings}} |
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| {{References}} | | {{Era|RVB|H1|H2|H3|HW|FOR|TF|FS|GOO|CH|TCP|UP|HGN|ILB|Iris}} |
| [[File:HR MoreMoa.png|thumb|250px|Moa are a sentient species.]]
| | {{Quote|After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings, they, as well as all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, died as planned.|[[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]]}} |
| {{Quote|After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings, they, as well as all additional sentient life within three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned.|[[343 Guilty Spark]]<ref>''[[Halo 2]]''</ref>}} | |
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| '''Sentience''' is the quality of possessing senses and the abilities of perception (eg. to perceive time). | | A '''sentient being''' is a being with the ability to think intelligently, commonly determined by the being's ability to speak, manipulate tools, and reason. Other lifeforms lacking such capabilities are classified as non-sentient, though some classification systems have a middle ground, semi-sentient, for species that had very primitive capabilities to manipulate tools, use language, and/or solve problems. The [[Precursors]] were thought to be "transsentient", which probably means that they were above "normal" sentient life forms in factors such as intelligence. |
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| ==Definitions of sentience== | | ==In Relation to the Halo Array and the Flood== |
| [[File:H2A - Mean Jackal.jpg|thumb|250px|Kig-Yar and Unggoy are both sapient species]] | | The [[Flood]] only consumed an organism that was sentient and also had a sufficient biomass along with calcium to support the infection process. Thus, they are not considered "sentient", as the Halo was designed to kill the Covenant, Humans, and their food. For the most part, all species in the Covenant and Humanity are sentient, but some lack the structural integrity needed to be infected; for example, [[Hunter]]s cannot be infected because each entity is made from a buildup of many eels that lack a spinal cord to control.It is, as of now, unknown how much mass is needed to be of sufficient use for Flood infection. |
| There are several levels of sentience:
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| *'''Non-sentience''' refers to living organisms that lack the ability to think or perceive, often used in reference to plant life. The [[Conservation Measure]] had negative effects on non-sentient life, leading to events of mass extinction.<ref>''[[Halo 3]]'', "[[Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal 1]]"</ref>
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| *'''Semi-sentience''' refers to beings with emerging sentience or beings with several traits of sentience. A species of tree native to [[Faun Hakkor]] was regarded as semi-sentient, having evolved a form of long-term intelligence and used insects, viruses, bacteria, and fungi as carriers of genetic and hormonal signals to communicate with each other.<ref name="c132">''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'', p. 132-133</ref> Early forms of [[smart AI]]s are regarded as semi-sentient.<ref name="best">''Halo 3'', "[[Bestiarum]]"</ref>
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| *'''Sentience''' generally refers to low-order thinking life.<ref name="warfleet">''[[Halo: Warfleet]]'', p. 92</ref> While few sentient beings are sapient, all sapient beings are sentient. As such the term "sentient" is often used to encompass all beings capable of sentience.{{Ref/Reuse|best}}
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| *'''Sapience''' refers to high-order thinking life, capable of symbolism and abstraction.{{Ref/Reuse|warfleet}} The term is used to describe beings capable of wisdom, using knowledge, experience, understanding, and common sense to think and act. Sapient beings are self-aware and capable of introspection. Examples of sapient species include [[human]]s and [[San'Shyuum]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|best}} [[Smart AI]] and [[ancilla]] are regarded as sapient,<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-armory-amore '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Armory Amore'']</ref> having the capacity for wisdom and the ability to perceive.<ref>''Halo: Warfleet'', p. 90</ref>
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| According to the [[Forerunner]] scale of [[Technological Achievement Tiers]], sufficiently advanced civilizations may be able to reach a stage known as "'''transsentience'''", a state of being above "normal" sentient life forms in factors such as intelligence. Only the [[Precursor]]s fit the category. The [[Gravemind]] may be transsentient, with the Forerunners sometimes viewing the [[Flood]] as a group of subsentient beings controlled by a possibly transsentient Gravemind. The Flood itself gains sentience from consuming the evolved complex neurosystem of one or more sentient entities.{{Ref/Reuse|best}}
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| ==Artificial intelligence==
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| Beside biological sentient life, some forms of [[artificial intelligence]] are regarded as sentient; to humans, such constructs are known as [[smart AI]]s. Notably, sentience renders an AI susceptible to a condition known as [[rampancy]], where the AI becomes fully aware of the nature of its existence and begins to rebel against its makers, as well as exhibiting a range of emotions beyond its programmed limits.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', p. 31, 378</ref>
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| {{Expand-section}}
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| ==In relation to the Flood and the Halo Array==
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| The [[Flood]] consume only organisms that are sentient or have sufficient biomass and calcium to support the infection process. [[Human]]s, most former member species of the [[Covenant]], and many other species are sentient and thus susceptible to Flood infection. Notably, [[Lekgolo]] assemblages cannot be infected because each entity is a gestalt of numerous eel-like creatures and thus lacks a spinal cord. All muliticellular life with a neural system as simple as a notochord (including all sentient species) is vulnerable to the effect of the [[Halo Array]].
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| {{Expand-section}}
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| ==Sources==
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| {{Ref/Sources}}
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| [[Category:Biology]] | |
