wow oneironaut. that's an astounding combination of practical science and ethereal awareness. I'd give you rep but it wouldn't let me cuz I've given you some recently.

I believe that in some way, our "souls" or some type of awareness existed pre-mortally. I don't think they were ever created though, just recycled from one form of energy to another. One reason I lean that way is by observing the characteristics of each astrological sign. Whether you believe in a daily horoscope or not (which I don't), there are obvious general personality similarities with people born during the same time period in the year, with some exceptions. It indicates to me the possibility that those individuals possessed those attributes pre-earth and somehow were consigned to specific time of year for birth, maybe due to the orbital position of the earth around the sun.

I also believe that in some ineffable way, all human beings and animal beings and plant beings and probably all matter and energy were at one time or will be one great whole and possibly one conscious entity.

These are just my current conjectures about this topic. I like what the 'naut said about how the complexities in conscious life shouldn't encourage you to work backwards from the point of something much more supreme, but rather to look at the foundations of that life to better understand our nature. But like always, our minds have a hard time with infinite matters because all we are capable of perceiving is based in a finite universe and any superior intellect we are capable of is founded on natural, raw molecular material.