Questions and speculations on Consciousness

I think, I am, I have a sense of self, and my observations shape reality. There is an apparent intentionality in my actions. I believe I possess the power rebel against existing order, tear it apart and construct a new one. I am a member of a lucky species that has attained a certain degree of consciousness.

But what is that thing we label consciousness. Is it simply and emergent phenomena of an advanced sensory system that is combined with the complex arrangement of neurons and synapses? Is it inevitable that conscious being such as humans should exist in the universe? Are we truly “At home in the Universe”, as Stuart Kauffman would put it?

Is the quality of consciousness intrinsically tied to being human? I am not so sure.

Is it a field that permeates space seeking a suitable medium to express itself? I am happier with that thought, though I have no way to prove it…yet!

We might one day set in motion a process that would create increasingly more advanced mediums of consciousness. We may one day surpass ourselves and hand the baton to nobler and superior beings. There should be joy in that; no fear or shame. It will be just then that we would have fulfilled the ultimate purpose of our species.