What you were saying ("the universe itself want us to explore it", "the consciousness of the universe") was implying otherwise to me.

I mean, I would only consider those statements I quoted to be true in a poetic or metaphorical way.

Different person here but I think "part of" is the key phrase here. Is life part of the universe "looking back at itself?" Well, yes it is. But life is only part of the universe. The universe itself as a whole is not conscious and "looking back at itself." Just like Reddit as a whole is not necessarily interested in philosophy just because some individual members are.