Explaining why consciousness exists is the same task as asking why anything exists. Take applesauce: we know what it is made out of and we could probably recrea

Explaining why consciousness exists is the same task as asking why anything exists. Take applesauce: we know what it is made out of and we could probably recreate it without using any apples — applesauce is just a configuration of matter, same as whatever configuration of atoms in our brains leads us to have conscious experiences. But why do atoms exist? Why does existence exist? Thus, religion and philosophy. The existence of consciousness just feels like a unique problem because we only feel and think through the medium of consciousness itself. Consciousness is the closest we get to the baffling existence of existence. The good news is that we don’t really need an answer. It is enough to know that some configuration of matter and energy coincide with consciousness, and that means we can create it. Just like applesauce.