I did used to watch a sci-fi show where one of the races espoused the philosophy we were the universal consciousness made manifest, trying to figure itself out. I have no evidence that there even is a universal consciousness, but it was an interesting notion.

My view is that since we humans have first-hand experience of consciousness, it's safe to say that the universe of which we are a part hosts consciousness.

FWIW, I regard the whole shebang as boundlessly entangling relations even now emergent within the infinite possibilities of erstwhile no-thingness; necessarily eventuating in everything from fluctuating forces to quarks, atoms, molecules, organisms, and ultimately to perceivers like us abiding within a host cosmos.

What I find most interesting in the underlying physics is that everything, including us and all of our perceptions, is ever emergent in a gazillion ephemerally flickering quarks. Through the strong force, thought to be mediated by similarly emergent gluons, these atemporally emergent quarks comprise the protons and neutrons that make up the seemingly persistent physical universe.

Perception of that universe is mediated by chargeless photons traveling at the speed of light. In macroscopic relativity, propagation at light-speed incurs no change or passage of time, so perceived photons are simultaneously at their points of emission and absorption. Time and distance are local interpretations of variations detectable in photonic wavelength. That interpretation gives rise to the highly problematic dark energy.

I know ... it's all just a pile of words; but that kind of puzzling captivates my attention.

What are your thoughts about all that?

Tom