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Chemical reactions can "code" the "manual" or a " Set of rules " but "consciousness" seems to be quite an othe matter



No, consciousness is simply a lot of those chemical reactions all together, because one single thought is not the same as 1 chemical reaction somewhere, it requires a bit more. Why would a chemical reaction, with as result how we feel and react be different from our definition of 'conscious'?

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If a cat attacks a mouse, the heartbeat of the mouse's mother drammatically increases even though she is in a safety place
It seems strange that a "pure reactive agent" can drive also some functions which apparently have nothing to do with the survival of the animal but which are very close to human emotions



There could be dozens of reasons for the mother mouse having a fast heartbeat at that moment, it doesn't need a consciousness for it. When that last devestating tsunami came a lot of animals were already long gone. Did they sense it comming? That would still not mean they must have a soul. It does indicate a sense of consciousness, but I think we don't know much about that yet when it comes to animals,

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