I think as human ability for rational thought has evolved, so too has anxiety about things we don't know. To survive, our ancestors needed to know and understand from where and how to get their food, shelter, mates, etc...  They needed to understand how the future might play out and then plan for this. So along with the ability to understand  the world and make plans comes anxiety about things we don't know.

So, God, gods, myths, legends and religion have served as an explanation about things we don't know. This relieves the anxiety about the unknown, so religion has served as an anti-anxiety drug. We see this today, God is the explanation for everything science has yet to explain. So while many religious people are accepting Darwin's explanation for the origin of species, they still use God to explain the origin of life and the universe. God is just relief for the anxiety about things we don't know.

So I think religion will die out when science comes up with a better anti-anxiety drug than religion.

You could be right that if we don't destroy ourselves and religion is greatly diminished, perhaps this universal conscience could arise. Who knows? Another mystery of the universe.