On one level this question has a very simple answer. The universe has consciousness because it has us. We are conscious beings, and we and other conscious beings exist in the universe. Therefore the universe has consciousness within it. On that purely logical level, it is not possible that the universe can be without consciousness.

On another level, the question is not whether the universe has consciousness, but whether it has individual consciousness. Does the universe have individual consciousness as an entity separate from the conscious entities within it? That question has no simple answer.

It is conceivable that the universe has no separate, individual consciousness, that consciousness exists in the universe solely as a concatenation of conscious experiences within the universe. There may be no universal consciousness separate and apart from the experience of conscious beings.

Is connected consciousness sufficient for universal consciousness?

We have already concluded that all consciousness is connected. The physical properties of matter and energy do not allow a single consciousness to be cut off from other matter and energy or from other consciousness in the universe. We live, breathe, and interact in a lake of matter and energy that forms the foundation of all consciousness. The connections between us cannot be assumed away.

With all consciousness connected, is it possible that the web of connected consciousness does not exist separately from the consciousness of the individual entities within it? And if the connected thing exists separately, must it have a separate consciousness of itself?

To think of it another way, is the sense of connectedness felt by individual consciousness a form of collective consciousness? Could such a thing as Jung’s “collective unconscious” be an abstraction of the connected physical consciousness experienced by all conscious beings?

Does consciousness require experience of separation?

Consciousness gives us a sense of self. It makes us feel distinct from the world around us and from other beings. We conceive of connected consciousness because we feel disconnected. Can consciousness exist without that sense of separateness? Without awareness of separation from other forms of existence?[1]

If the universe is all, could it have a sense of self or the capacity to feel distinct from anything around it? Without that, could it experience consciousness at all?

Does consciousness require the possibility of death?

The most profound separation experienced by humans is death. Does consciousness require a beginning and an end?[2] Does the sense of self intrinsic to individual consciousness depend on the separation created by potential loss of consciousness and awareness of death? Can separate consciousness exist without the possibility of the loss of separate consciousness?

What we know

As a general rule, we experience consciousness only through ourselves. Outside the context of mystic experience, we are seldom aware of experiencing universal consciousness. Consequently, we do not know for certain whether universal consciousness exists or, if so, in what form it exists.

We do know that the universe has consciousness within it and that the universe experiences consciousness through us. As far as we know for certain, we may be the only way the universe experiences consciousness.

We also know that the universe experiences death only through the death of entities within the universe. We are not aware of any means by which the universe itself experiences death other than through us.[3] It may be then that the universe itself cannot experience full consciousness because it cannot experience death or separation. In fact, we ourselves may be the consciousness of the universe.

The one and the many

If that is so, the list of things that the universe experiences only through us may be long indeed. Could such a universe have no sense of distinct consciousness at all?

Or could the universe have the unique capacity to experience the less integrated consciousness of its separate components? Could it experience our consciousness and that of other conscious entities within it? Could the universe be conscious because (1) we are conscious and (2) we share our experience of separation and death with the unseparated and undying universal consciousness?

Perhaps again the mystics are correct that we experience oneness and eternity by connecting with universal consciousness. Perhaps also the universe experiences separation and death—and creates its own consciousness—by connecting with the consciousness of the many.

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[1] Advocates of Integrated Information Theory (IIT) have a clear opinion on this question, postulating that “any conscious experience is definite, with borders.” “Thus the Anima Mundi or world soul is ruled out….” Koch (2019), pp. 163, 165.

[2] In the language of IIT theorists, if a conscious experience must be definite, does that include a definite period of time? Does consciousness require borders in time as well as space?

[3] Scientific cosmologists and physicists talk of the potential for “heat death” at the end of time and may establish at some point that the universe can or will die. But the concept may be beyond the ken of humans. Despite theorizing among physicists about “many worlds”, parallel universes, and the state of reality before the Big Bang, we humans commonly conceive of the universe as consisting of the all — all that is and ever was and ever shall be. How can such a thing cease to be?