I often get involved in disagreements with people who believe human kind is superior and not just gifted with a sense of self and with consciousness because of a series of coincidences and genetic accidents. I wonder whether I’m wrong and there are other valuable perspectives.

It is, as you point out, debatable.
How intelligent can we be if we poison the air we breath and wreak havoc on our own environment and other species of life?
We have the ability to inquire, to learn, to study ourselves, the world around us and even the solar system and universe beyond that. We are quite extraordinary.
We are important, but in the right way? We are important in devastating natural habitats for other creatures. That’s sad. We are all capable of reproducing with each other, so biologically we are as one species of humans, all fighting and killing each other for no sane reason whatsoever.
This is great for armchair debate!