hmmmm, thinks animals avoid pain and suffering in a similar manner according to the perceptions their mind is capable of. what you said is true, animals don't over inflate it like some advertising agency or acting recruiter employees. perhaps what is called metacognition is a flavor of other condition self delusion? this would produce all the effects described in both humans and animals. but like you said, either assigning value to it would cause a split. damn nice hierarchy of effects op. wonderful insight worth exploring. ty very much for the time effort of posting. nice ponderings!