consciousness as an element

I have grappled with some thoughts on consciousness and what it is. Thinking of consciousness as a measurable element which we simply lack the tools to empirically measure, consciousness, like other elements, arguably came from a source, perhaps a single source. To be fair, there are possibly different types of consciousness. The consciousness of inert matter vs. living matter could be different, for example. If consciousness is another form of energy, as of yet incalculable, this could indicate a single consciousness. The singular consciousness has been shattered and blasted all over the universe/multiverse. Now the consciousness is schizophrenic, creatures as ourselves containing or carrying shards of consciousness that does not recognize itself in others. Sometimes, maybe it does and is repelled or attracted in an emotional reaction. What causes me to stumble is the sheer loneliness that this implies. One consciousness, nothing to relate to, shatters itself in an attempt to create the perceptions of relational experiences. I remember reading Christian literature which probed the question, "Why did God create the world?" The answer was because God is Love and Love wants to love and be loved. In vedic stories, the gods participate with humanity by means of avatars, the gods all being the many faces of one god. These ideas are strikingly similar at the root, being both about a desire for experiencing reciprocations of relational perception. Truly, reality is fiction because it is perceived differently by each shard of consciousness. Will the schizophrenic consciousness one day make itself whole once more? The success of social networks online could be evidence of an innate desire in each one to re-combine into a collective mind. The consciousness unified may very well be akin to inert matter. Matter is constantly working toward an inert state, the universe towards entropy. One consciousness, without perception of a relationship to another consciousness, would arguably be unconscious of itself, as in Nirvana. When an infant is born, psychology tells us that it does not perceive itself as separate from the mother. Perhaps the infant does not discriminate between itself and its environment or any other object or creature, reflecting pre-Great Separation of Taoist philosophy. The infant begins with no ego, the perception and boundaries of the self is something learned as infants develop. If an infant could be considered pure of consciousness, free from social imprinting, perhaps the state of singular, pure consciousness is also such.