Quote Originally Posted by alpine_xj
Sometimes when I'm watching my dog I just want to turn into it. Be happy all day for no damn reason. And hunt little animals. But no, you couldn't retain a human conscience with an animal brain, it's not complex enough.
I'm not saying you would retain the complexity of a human brain, merely the sense of being. For instance, does a bird realize it is a bird and act accordingly or is it merely acting on genetic programming (this applies to any animal, bird came to mind first).