Consciousness as result of sexual selection – a showy peacock’s tail, a bower bird’s staged abode — functional purpose being attractive to a potential partner but in this case not (only) resident in one sex.

As such like most sexually-selected traits, it reduces fitness but also advertises one’s high levels thereof.

This is probably not a new idea. Truly novel ideas are very, very rare. But I thought of it myself and I’m pretty proud of that.

Chances of being true, even partially? I’d say five percent. Or about the same or better as any other idea about consciousness.