There’s really no way to know, though. When a great painter is “in the zone,” they might well be experiencing a mode of consciousness that is unavailable to others. Not just a different experience, but perhaps a completely different way of existing. But they would never know, because to them it’s normal and they assume everyone else feels the same.

A smaller example might be self-talk. Most people apparently have a voice in their head. But some do not. I don’t, actually, and don’t understand how people who do can live a normal life that way.