I think of that paper often, though I think it applies equally to other humans. Like I’ll never know how it feels to be Doug unless I fully become Doug, and thus lose my own perspective.

Like how much of empathy is just projection?

I feel like a lot of it. We can talk about similarities in physiological responses to events, but as far as the actual subjective “qualia” (I think I’m using the term correctly) 🤷‍♂️