That's a big "IF", tpaine. What if consciousness is not a function of anything else, or constituted by parts of anything else? What if it were something more akin to, say, electromagnetism?
On the other hand if what you write here is correct, then there'd be nothing to worry about on that particular score. So long as science is done honestly and rigorously, we have to let the chips fall where they may. But the point is, science really hasn't seriously studied the issue, but acts as if it had; i.e., that is, it acts as if it knows what consciousness is. Either that, or treats it as a "non-issue."
What I meant by my remark that I thought you had a rather low opinion of man could have been far better expressed by saying: You seriously underestimate this marvel called consciousness.