A Uniquely Human Trait?

Think about this, the hard problem of consciousness relates to how and why subjective experience arises from physical processes in the brain.

Gorillas are one of our closest evolutionary relatives, which raises the first question of this painting. Is consciousness a uniquely human trait? Or is it something that exists elsewhere? Perhaps even on a spectrum?

The headphones add a layer, is the gorilla experiencing music? We know the gorilla can hear, but can it be having a subjective experience akin to our own? If it does react, is it feeling something, or is it just responding?

Of, if the gorilla is enjoying the music it is haring, is it conscious in the same way we consider ourselves to be?

Headphones isolate sound, the music the gorilla is hearing is inaccessible to others. This relates to the crossover between neuroscience and philosophy, It’s known as the explanatory gap, meaning we can observe the brains states, but not the qualia (the subjective experience) behind them.

We can see the this here gorilla, we can know its brain lights up. But we can’t feel what it’s like to be the gorilla any more than I can feel what it’s like to be you.