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Having thought about this a little more, it's difficult to assess the evolutionary value of one particular trait. Really any organism evolves into a niche. Up to now, consciousness has obviously served us well or those of us who had it wouldn't be here. However, in terms of ubiquity and longevity, the organisms with the fewest non-essential mechanisms seem to be the most robust. Bacteria are probably the best example of this. They display only the most basic signs of consciousness, but if I recall correctly, there are ten times as many bacterial cells in your body as there are human cells. Lucky your cells are 100X bigger than theirs, huh?
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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit."
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