The universe is very real and so are you. It consists of that which can be perceived and that
which can be imagined, as well as what actually is there. Your job is to tell them all apart.

You can also imagine things, in great detail, which you know perfectly well do not exist, never have and never will. But none of these activities may require consciousness. Does an ant need to know it is following a pheremone trail in order to do it? Does a Sidewinder missile know it has recognized and is following an IR signature? To an outside observer these actions appear to be consciousness-driven. We know they are not for the missile, we don't know for the ant, how do we know for ourselves?

There may be forms of highly evolved consciousness in the universe (and I am talking strictly of natural, non-supernatural beings) who feel we are little pre-programmed robots incapable of independent thought, with no self-awareness at all. Indeed, this is a common sci-fi theme. Those who refuse to accept this view of their own consciousness often have no trouble accepting hypothetical aliens far in advance of us that feel this way about us.

Or maybe there are lots of different KINDS of consciousnesses...