[consilient]

> simply be what that conscious thing experiences when a set of neurons is activated in a particular way?

That is what it is, but that's totally independent of whether they're physical. One is a sign pointing to the thing, the other is a claim about the characteristics of the thing.

"This is a question mark: ?"

versus

"A question mark is a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative phrase."

versus

"A question mark is half to three quarters of a roughly circular shape, open at the lower left, with a small line segment at the bottom followed by an open space and then a dot."