Annaka Harris' fascinating book makes the case that consciousness may be an inherent property of all matter and for the possibility of modern theories of panpsychism. However, she suggests that the concept of the self is an illusion and cannot define consciousness. Consciousness may well be — I believe is — a fundamental property of the universe. But I do not believe that the concept of the self is an illusion. Rather the self is a construct arising from the complex information processing in our brain that allows experiencing. Harris follows Thomas Nagel in defining consciousness as "being like something," i.e. having subjective experiences. But seems to me that there can be no “being like something“ without a self to be like. (A rock has no self.) Consciousness may be everywhere and in everything but to become an experience, it needs language — to tell its story — and gives birth to culture. Culture is perhaps the most powerful result of consciousness. Culture includes science, politics and social ordering and is the basis of civilization.
Harris also discusses the "combination problem" of panpsychism raised by David Chalmers. (How could the many little bits of consciousnesses attached to everything come together to form one consciousness like ours?) But there is no combination problem in a fundamental approach to panpsychism because consciousness is simply a potential or tag-along property of matter, perhaps available to or forming a higher level self. (Might a star — possessing vast complexity — have an experience of self, of being a star?) When connected to processing capable of forming a self, that bit of consciousness “pinches off” from the sea of consciousness (and perhaps from a higher order of complexity). (See my The Cosmic Design and the Designer.)
