I’ve read somewhere that from all living beings, the ability of being conscious belongs only to humans and very few other species. Most animals don’t really have awareness of their ego’s existence. For instance, whenever cats, dogs and other pets have been exposed to a mirror, they don’t seem to recognize their self–image and they react as if it was a different animal in front of them, staring suspiciously. Thus, it is claimed that even though, they may instinctively create some thoughts and have dreams, they don’t bare consciousness of the “I”, the capability of self-reflecting and form their own subjective perception for the world.
That incapability of course doesn’t apply for higher primates such as gorillas and chimps (that actually differ genetically from man –in less than 3%) who in the same mirror experiment, behave much like humans, showing off and posing, therefore indicating a sense of knowing who they are. I found that very interesting, consciousness itself has probably appeared due to ape’s escalating development of his brain size during evolution.
I wonder though, where is the point inside the brain that consciousness resides and if it’ a remoted area or the whole brain function creates that sense.