You're talking about a different sense of the word "conscious." What you're describing might better be called "reactivity" or something. (Don't get too hung up

You're talking about a different sense of the word "conscious." What you're describing might better be called "reactivity" or something. (Don't get too hung up on the specific word; the point is there are several different meanings of the word "conscious" and the distinctions are critical.) There is no obvious reason why useful interaction with one's environment requires conscious experience, which is the phenomenon we're discussing here.