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| {{Status|Canon}} | | {{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}} |
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| | {{Rename|Sapience|If we have an article on sentience, then we need to include every vertebrate mentioned in the series. It makes better sense to have one specifically for "sapient" organisms.}} |
| {{References}} | |
| [[File:HR MoreMoa.png|thumb|250px|Moa are a sentient species.]]
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| {{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>}} | | {{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). | | '''Sentience''' is the quality of possessing senses and the abilities of perception (eg. to perceive time) and recordable experiences. |
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| ==Definitions of sentience==
| | 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.<ref>'''[[Bestiarum]]'''</ref> |
| [[File:H2A - Mean Jackal.jpg|thumb|250px|Kig-Yar and Unggoy are both sapient species]] | |
| 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>
| | 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''', ''pages 31, 378''</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>
| | ==In relation to the Halo Array and the Flood== |
| | | [[The Flood]] only consumed organisms that were sentient, or had sufficient biomass and calcium to support the infection process. For the most part, all species in the Covenant; humanity and many other mammalian organisms are sentient, though some lack the structural integrity needed to be infected; for example, [[Mgalekgolo]] cannot be infected because each entity is made from a buildup of many [[Lekgolo|eel-like organisms]] that are too alien to control, lack a spinal cord. It is, as of now, unknown how much mass is needed to be of sufficient use for Flood infection. |
| *'''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]]. | |
| {{Expand-section}}
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| ==Sources== | | ==Sources== |
| {{Ref/Sources}}
| | <references/> |
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| [[Category:Biology]] | | [[Category:Biology]] |
