“What right do we have to claim, as some might, that human beings are the only inhabitants of our planet blessed with an actual ability to be "aware"? … The impression of a "conscious presence" is indeed very strong with me when I look at a dog or a cat or, especially, when an ape or monkey at the zoo looks at me. I do not ask that they are "self-aware" in any strong sense (though I would guess that an element of self-awareness can be present). All I ask is that they sometimes simply feel!”

— Roger Penrose, book The Emperor's New Mind

Source: The Emperor's New Mind (1989), Ch. 9, Real Brains and Model Brains, p. 383.

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Roger Penrose15

English mathematical physicist, recreational mathematician … 1931

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