What Does the Universe Know about Itself?

During "The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean," the first episode of Cosmos, Carl Sagan says "We are a way for the universe to know itself." As an 11-year-old kid watching this back in 1980, this was a revelation, and it's stuck with me ever since. It's an idea that's given me comfort for decades, because it suggests we're here for a reason, and at the same time we're part of a greater whole. 

But then, as I was washing my hands after lunch, that quote came to me in a different light. 

I thought--

If we're the means for the universe to know itself, the universe is in trouble. Sure, we've learned a lot about the universe, but there's so much more we don't know, including the answer to the question "Why is there something instead of nothing?" Moreover, there's a good chance we're going to destroy ourselves before we learn much more about the universe. 

There's a bright side; given the vastness of the universe, our species is unlikely to be the only one learning about the cosmos (Fermi paradox notwithstanding). If the lights go out for us, our tiny corner of the universe won't have a way to know itself. But maybe the other guys will come along and check out the neighbourhood before entropy grinds the whole works to a halt.