It's the 'How would you feel if you didn't have breakfast this morning?' question writ large.

As disturbing as it is to contemplate, as time has gone by, I've become more and more convinced that alot of mental capabilities I'd venture most people on here can pull off just aren't present in the population at-large.

Growing up, I had no issue reading about a protagonist radically different than myself; Fuck, I still re-read Dragonsong and Dragonsinger from Anne Macaffery because that shit is comfy as fuck, even though I am not a girl nor do I can about singing much.

It's why the NPC meme is so terrifying, and why people freaked out about it; the idea that there are degrees of consciousness, and not everyone has the same qualia basically makes society as a whole break down. It makes people demonstrably lesser in a way that can't be ignored.