Term this set perception. Second is the set of all operations on information, whether or not they are perceived. Term this set thinking. Therefore, animals and robots think. Term this set awareness.
Awareness is essential to applying abstract thought.
However, Crick does not make this distinction in his argument. Citing studies of visual perception, Crick indicates accurately that images of the external world are mapped onto neural networks in the visual cortex, then interpreted and organized into meaningful information in other regions of the brain. It started in the sacrum, moved to the heart, and has now arrived at the brain. In sum, the epiphenomenon hypothesis presupposes that neurophysiological studies of perception and thinking apply directly to consciousness. This assumption is as untenable as asserting that studies of the heart can yield information about love.