Consciousnesses

Scientifically, evolution could produce a spectrum of intelligence and capability across the cosmos. Imagine humans as "lower beings" compared to a species that’s had a billion more years to evolve—maybe they’re energy-based lifeforms or collective consciousnesses. Then, above them, there could be even more advanced entities, approaching what we’d call godlike but still not ultimate. Whether this tops out at a single transcendent God or remains an open-ended ladder is a matter of speculation.