Hello Kort,
I always enjoy Digressions and Diatribes and I found your recent piece on the Evolution of Daydreaming especially interesting. Your theory is as good as any other and far better than most. But the fact is, exactly how/why the human brain works as it does is still a mystery.
Years ago, it seemed that a thinking machine was right around the corner. Then, after many false starts here in the West, the Japanese said they would enter the fray and begin at the beginning. A decade later and still no luck.
Now there are those who believe all that's needed is a more powerful computer (perhaps a quantum computer) for consciousness to arise spontaneously. Then there are those who believe that consciousness doesn't arise spontaneously. It's more like dancing than digesting. It involves the interplay of the brain, multiple senses and a culture. Think: Helen Keller.
But no matter how it happens, when the Singularity does finally happen, nothing will ever be the same!
Stay well,
Steve Mason