Nietzsche's Übermensch/Last Man dichotomy can very much been seen in the light of the 2 powerful forces that shape our society. The Fascist/Communist dichotomy. The Übermensch falls very much in the Fascist ideology (extreme libertarian-ism/individualism). See Hitlers admiration of Nietzsche's ideas. The "last Man' follows the Communist ideal (no more individualism). Both have produced horrors in the 20th century.

Do you believe humans have a religious purpose?

"NE is an overarching principle of nature, then the intelligence to identify the most efficient method of any and all processes must be coupled with free will"
Are you suggesting 'free will' had a hand in Evolution?

Are you asking if humans are connected with God or a god or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration?

I can't quite any person serious that invokes the blessings of a mythical God.

As with most subjects I am able to argue from a religious perspective: all things emanate from God (the Supreme Consciousness) or from an Evolutionarily perspective. Consciousness as an emergent ability of Life. Whereby all life shows a propensity towards consciousness in a lesser or greater extent. A bat can 'see' in the dark, not because its hearing is qualitatively different from ours. As demonstrated by blind people that are able to navigate by means of clicks. As such our consciousness is not qualitatively different to other organisms.

My creative thinking is very much influenced by cannabis. Thankfully the consumption of which is tolerated in the Netherlands. I think it will take some time before it becomes part of academic or scientific research. There is still too much of a taboo on getting 'high'. And as I have stated above, I'd love to be a test subject. I think my THC infected brain could offer a great insight in how the creative/religious brain functions. I leave all my Tweets and Facebook' ramblings for posterity. One day it might become a treasure trove of information.

I can also give you a 'religious' explanation. God is consciousness and the creator of reality. You possess godliness.

"where this "self" comes from, what is it, why is it?"
The sense of 'self', 'identity' is a trick you brain is playing on you. It is a magical 'illusion'. Science of psychology has empirically shown this to be the case in multiple studies. Interesting read perhaps?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/store/books/the-science-of-consciousness/

I don't see fascism (the accumulation of wealth, property) at one extreme and communism (all property is publicly owned) as a black or white issue. It is in these extremes that society breaks down.
Society functions best when it is able to operate in the grey area (Liberal Democracy's). But these forces are present in society. It is when one or the other starts to become more dominant that we get ourselves in trouble. As with everything one has to find the balance between the duality of things.

I think this path of inquiry can shed light on the concept of consciousness. Extrapolating from the proposition 'reacting to outside influences' and extending that to 'life' (as being an even more sophisticated) reactor to outside influences. Evolution has extended this sensory ability with touch, vision,hearing and taste etc.. and ultimately with the ability to 'experience' oneself.

Fascism is ultimately about power and wealth. The ones in power will never stop accumulating power and wealth until the gross of the population is poor and powerless and revolts. The French and the Russian revolution will come to China eventually claiming many millions of lives.

The path to hell is paved with 'positive ethics'.

In it's most basic form, can one postulate that Anything that reacts to outward influence may be considered 'conscious' (of that influence)? Following that logic couldn't one consider all matter to be 'conscious'.

Philosophy seems to me to be the science of understanding what the hell someone else is talking about.

Yes. Well that would not work as all 'possible worlds' would still have to adhere to the basic laws of physics.

Consciousness is that what keeps you awake.

I don't think you've quite understood my argument. I am not postulating on 'possible worlds' but on the existence of an infinite number of Universes.

" it can be easily shown to be highly probable: like all existential statements, it is in an infinite (or sufficiently large) universe almost logically true,"
Isn't he just speculating on the Multiverse theory that postulates an infinite number of copies of You exists. This can make the logical conclusion that a probable copy of You exist also?

Isn't the whole body of science predicated on it's ability to distinguish true from false?

Explaining consciousness is like trying to explain vision to a blind person, sound to a deaf person and life to a dead person.

Wouldn't you be putting your philosophical argument in your historical context thereby admitting it is merely a subjective observation, having no universal value?

We are inhabiting a chaotic system. Consider yourself trying to walk from the back of a crowd to the front of a podium. In an empty space you can follow a perfect line which can be drawn between the 2 positions. However if you have to make your way through a dancing crowd you will weave your way through. Cumulatively the path you follow will be the same as the previous one as all the detours you make will cancel each other out. The same phenomenon can be observed in dice. Dice have an inherent 'nature' path they 'wish' to follow but the forces of entropy (chaos) throws them out of kilter.

By becoming as powerful as God we are causing our own demise.

Chinese regime is the most insidious expression of contemporary fascism.

I think my brain under the influence of cannabis would make a great research subject. They would be able to see which parts of the brain are active during profound religiosity and creative thinking.

All my Philosophical thoughts have been generated by the consumption of cannabis. When high I go on a Twitter spree and has inspired me to start a Facebook page called the Religious Atheist. My twitter handle is the selfconsconscious ape.I am an atheist but 'High' I become a religious fanatic very much inspired by Buddhism and the biblical Genesis.