It is theorized by some that “panpsyhism” is true. The idea that consciousness is an elementary part of matter. Traditionally this has been a view taken on by Buddhism, and Greek philosophy. More contemporaneously it’s been taken on by modern philosophy of mind & even niche groups of physicists.

The most interesting reason it’s taken seriously, at least in the modern post-Darwin era, is that evolution is known to be a process that can only build further complexity upon an element or process that already exists, even if it exists in a tremendously basic/primordial form.

So why should consciousness be an exception to this? We don’t have anything resembling a clear answer as to why it might be an exception at all. Everything about evolution tells us that it “should be” an elementary aspect of matter itself. And we have absolutely no evidence to the contrary. And no plausible explanations of how it could have “magically” appeared later on, unless it was in fact already around in some basic form.