I often wonder if whatever it is we currently experience as consciousness or self-awareness was a major contributor to species-wide problems such as climate change.

Having come across Zapffe's "existential elk" theory in the last year, it's hard to not see consciousness as a design flaw rather than an upgrade that sits at the root of the things driving climate change, e.g. hyperconsumerism, rampant use of non-renewable materials, and all the other things we choose into for personal satisfaction despite the negative impacts to the whole.

Might we have been better off without consciousness, or at least not as detrimental to the planet? I don't know.