[hliyan]

> Perhaps animals evolved consciousness because it enabled them to harness some sort of property of the universe that improved decisionmaking

I've come to a similar conclusion. Recently it was discovered that photosynthesis utilizes some quantum effects. We should at least consider the possibility that the nervous systems of some animals have evolved to take advantage of similar effects.

It stands to reason that if a certain physical phenomenon can be invoked through folded proteins, then at some point, evolution as we know it today will take advantage of it. But we don't know whether this is consciousness or even related to consciousness at all.