This is an experimental posting technique... no need to explain... might aswell just "dive right in"... Consciousness... being alive... WTF is that? It could be "being self-aware"... but that might be being self-conscious... which could be a "bad thing"... but I do not see the necessity of being self-aware to be alive... does the ant know it's an ant? Does it even take time to label itself... or does it just go? What is this "going" anyway? I guess it could be instinct... but where do these "instincts" come from? Obviously they were not learned or it would be knowledge... but if knowledge without action is merely delusion how could we seperate instinct from that which is learned? ... Back to being alive... or so we claim... it couldn't just be self-awareness... for the tree is alive... and if life needs death then anything with a "life-span" must be alive... take the Sun for example... according to our greatest religion known as "Science" (... maybe another thread?) our Sun is going to "die"... become a red giant or some kind of fantisctical idea... but it will not exist forever... in this form... so if it can die... it must be alive... and if life needs not self-awareness... what is it up to? Maybe it likes making friends... Planets... when two people meet... fall in love... they sometimes "create" children... Love Children... so when hydrogen clusters meet "space dust"... they might fall in love... or collide, condense, interact... create Planets... or Love Children... most of the time parents have great interest in their children... provide homes, food, experiences... Love... Do not even the Birds feed? Of course they do... and if Evolution is true... we are All That Remains... the product of 13.7 billion years of Lovemaking... Love... making... matter, elements, space dust, planets... "Good Things"... but atanyrate... we Exist... and that which is needs a form... I suppose there could be a "Spirit World"... but that's an implied duality... and besides, how could anything Exist "outside The Universe?" That's an oxymoron... so this... reality... is the spirit world... products of consciousness... conscious products... a Cycle... an infinitely repeating cycle... to what avail? To be... to live... to Love... Consciousness needs to change/evolve to become what it wants... what you want... what do you want? That could be it for now... if that^^^ is difficult to read let me know and I will try to transform it into "paragraphs." In case you do not get what I mean by "Stream of Consciousness," I mean typing/sharing exactly what is on your mind... no editing, no word wizardry, no ego... just sharing... -Peace & Love