Let's start with one idea.
Maybe the tail is more conscious than the head.
Maybe what is being eaten is more conscious than what eats.
Maybe service is above all.
Think of the symbol: a snake eating itself. The notion that in some way, the Universe is Consuming itself. It's incomprehensible, as an idea or thought, taken in the context of the symbol.
But maybe, the rocks, the sand, the air, the water.... know much more than we do.
Intelligence vs. Consciousness was discussed recently on a Lex Friedman podcast.
Maybe our tails are the more conscious than our heads, and this is the design.