What Is Consciousness?

Is consciousness something that arises from higher level order creatures and such? Or is consciousness actually sort of like a field that permeates the entire universe? And maybe we have to think of consciousness not as an emergent, higher order property, but actually as the most fund mental variable of the universe. Could inanimate matter be conscious? For example, can a computer become conscious? Is consciousness a property of biological, organic life? Can consciousness be split or joined? That's interesting to ponder.