it is different because the mathematical model of the universe makes a mention of the photon, but not of the consciousness.

In a theoretical future version of python, the photon example would be:

import universe
universe.Photon().leave(universe.observers["Eugine_Nier"].light_cone)

While the conssciousness example would be:

import universe
import epiConsc
epiCons.Consciousness(universe.observers["Eugine_Nier"]).observe()

On a side note,remember that there are no fundamental photons nor light cones. There is only whatever QFT is the true one; the rest are mathematical consequences.