— by Ahmad Thakur
Human beings are the only creatures that have consciousness, which is different from just being a living organism operating according to its nature. We are aware of ourselves, which is a trait animals do not have. This begs the question, why? Why did evolution choose consciousness and self-awareness? Most importantly, how could something like consciousness even evolve?
Spinoza argued that everything in existence is due to predetermined laws of nature. These laws could also be called God. And it seems like this God, or natural laws, or the universe might be sentient. It chose for consciousness to evolve. Spinoza had a pantheistic view of the universe and to him, we humans were just part of one giant whole. We might think we are discreet individuals, but what if this consciousness is just the universe observing itself through our eyes?
Free will might be an illusion and maybe every thought of ours is a choice made by the universe’s will that we are an expression of. We, humans, seem to be very interested in the universe and our place in it whenever we get the opportunity to rid ourselves of the drudgery of life. This interest also seems to be predetermined. Maybe the universe created us to observe itself.