 As described above, the view that consciousness is unique to humans has a long history. It coheres with a religious view of humanity as the pinnacle of creation, and it also may be appealing insofar as it absolves us of any guilt for our treatment of animals. Religion aside, it may derive considerable intuitive support because of the appeal of connecting consciousness to the problem of human uniquenesss.  If consciousness can be tied together with language, abstract reasoning, or some other mental characteristic that potentially could explain our apparent seperateness from the natural world, this would solve two outstanding mysteries at once. 