During a shamanic journey, I encountered an animal I did not recognise. It had a presence that was unmistakable, a distinct energy and character, and it communicated with me clearly. When I came back, I had to look it up to find out whether it existed at all. It did. It was a snow leopard. This is not the usual starting point for a discussion of the problem of other minds. The usual starting point is Descartes, or Wittgenstein, or the philosophical literature on analogy and i