The Other Cut: Measuring Recognition as a Controlled Difference, in One Worked Case

Third paper in the Consciousness series. This paper asks whether a structure-first approach to other minds can be carried out as a measurement, rather than only as a refusal to overclaim. It states the distinction between recognition and detection as a controlled difference: a residual that survives once the experiment's cruder cue, whether proximity or salience-capture, is subtracted. The method is read through a well-controlled study of chimpanzee gaze-following and through the object-choice task, returning recognition where responses track another's observable orientation and detection where the residual collapses once proximity is removed. The result is presented as a reconnaissance, not a validated instrument. The paper claims only that another's observable orientation can condition a response under controlled comparison; it does not claim to disclose what the subject experiences. It follows Not Less, But Other and How a Register Registers, supplying the worked empirical example the second paper promised — a demonstration that the structure-first posture has positive, measurable content in one bounded case. Further work in the sequence is in preparation.