Consciousness

I think, therefore I am, or at least I must be, or why else would I be asking such silly questions. We flatter ourselves with purpose when we wonder how the universe could exist without us. Our consciousness gathers information and changes the world far more quickly than slowly mutant strands of DNA, tectonic plates, or shifting weather patterns, but our tools have begun to catch up with us. Information vendors sell books about to nervous people about technology achieving its own consciousness, and present a reassuring world where our machines will never become too smart. Not yet. Not in our lifetimes.