> of dead randomness of nature

I think I disagree. Have you ever been in a dense, old forest? It's an extraordinarily complex system of life and death, and I don't think it's bland dead randomness.

Maybe that's me being a bit of a bullshit hippy, but there's an amazing amount of complex life interactions. Animals, especially mammals and corvids see, they get scared, they dream, they play, all in this dense web of moss and fungi and trees and life that they interact with and depend on.

I mean, we share 50-60% of our genetic sequence with most plants, including trees. Sure it's just basic cellular functionality needed for most life, but that's still wild to me.

I just don't think we're that special. I think we learned how to think a little bit better than everything else, and learned how to build tools a little better than everything else, and just kept folding upwards on that edge.