Interesting thought there, Wolfgang, about the "onset of pain perception" as a defining condition of the beginning of individual life.

I would tend to agree. Intelligent life is, by definition, that which is both self-aware and aware of outer stimuli. (And that includes plants, by the way, according to recent studies. They can't show a demonstrable visible reaction (lacking muscles), but they do react in an energetic sense to outer stimuli, and their reactions can be monitored.)

- LH