I agree with this, and was going to say something about my own clunky use of “sets us apart”, but then I re-read your OP, in which, you say,
“the realm of our thoughts is qualitatively, profoundly distinct from the physical realm of Earth, biology and physics”
I’ve already tried to cover how Descartes was a beginning of philosophy that recognized us as individual thinking beings but much has been added. You seem to have doubled-down on demonstrating that people still talk about him. Not sure how that proves anything. It doesn’t prove that many others have moved on from him.
I was talking to a 5 year old this summer, and someone had said she was an “animal”. She took it as an insult, which is what it was meant to be. We tried to tell her that she was part of the animal kingdom, hoping she’ll get that words are only harmful if you let them be. Not sure it sunk in. It’s something we all have to deal with as we advance through biology classes, where is our place in these cycles? It’s not just a material question, it effects how you think about abortion, end-of-life choices, burial, grieving, how much junk you should accumulate, what you should have for breakfast.