[inopinatus]

I'm assuming existence as a premise to avoid circularity. I'm actually more interested in why the universe isn't static, i.e. the idea that state change and the arrow of time might arise from evaluative processes as the fundamental causal structure.

When it comes to the question of whether consciousness is orthogonal to existence. I'm inclined to the position that it's an emergent property of matter, in particular taking exception to human exceptionalism. I acknowledge this is sailing damn close to the Chinese Room argument.