Читать книгу Survival: The Ultimate Mission - Robert M.D. Skaf - Страница 8

THE HIGHEST FORMS OF INTELLIGENCE: VISION, IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY, INVENTIVENESS

“Scientists estimate that earth has been around for about four billion years. On the other hand, the age of the universe is pegged at around twenty billion or forty or more, depending on the theory one elects to support. The chances are that life has existed on older planets. Not only that, but knowing what we know now about stars, one would be justified in concluding that some of these old planets if not all of them could have died long before our planet was born. After endlessly going through this process, in some cases lasting only no more than a million years on one planet, evolutionary biology through innovation and adaptation, must have learned how to survive beyond the destruction of any solar system. One way to achieve this goal would be in acquiring intelligence and vision. This is the only reason a species with a powerful brain would have evolved. This is why in my opinion, humanity must have evolved on an older planet, where biological life with a different DNA than that of earth, prepared our species not only to develop a large and complex brain, but more importantly, to acquire vision, imagination, inventiveness and creativity. Attributes only acquired by humans. All shared in common by artists, scientists, athletes, writers, commoners and even children. All along, we were assigned the task of colonizing other planets. Like it or not, this is our destiny. Working together to achieve this goal would make life on this planet much more tolerable if not more enjoyable for all of us. Before discarding this theory, one should take a good look at how bacteria on earth managed to acquire some sort of swarm intelligence and subsequently evolved into more complex organism. On earth, the search for food compelled bacteria to evolve into more mobile creatures. Just watch how some types of insects gain their mobility in morphing from maggots or larvae into flying creatures and you would get the picture. The same evolution must have taken place on different planet. This is a very effective strategy to survive on the same planet. To reach beyond that, at one point, evolutionary biology must have been compelled to think about surviving beyond any particular planet. This is when it came to realize that a different creature is going to be required for the task. A creature with intelligence, creativity and sophistication, someone like us.”

As an intelligent species our analytical ability allows us to understand many phenomena that affect our existence. Our inquisitive mind has made it possible to discover new and amazing scientific formulas. Our longing for exploration has paved the way for an endless number of inventions. Our love for beauty and truth has propelled authors and poets to create an impressive legacy of literary work; also, it has inspired painters, sculptors and musicians to produce numerous master pieces of artistic work. Indeed, humanity will always be grateful to every individual who has made any contribution to art or science. Furthermore, these individuals have brought joy and pleasure to our rather dull, mediocre and harsh lives.

The question that most of us often ask is, since we all happen to belong to the same intelligent species, why is this creative gift only bestowed upon such a few. The answer is simple: the ability to create, imagine, invent and discover requires more than intelligence. It requires something called vision as well. Without this vision nothing can be achieved on any level of the human endeavour. Vision is the highest form of intelligence. In fact, for our species to reach higher level of civilization, it must make more use of this faculty. Not just that, we must learn how to share it better and make it more common. Just because one happens to be assigned a vision, one is not meant to be selfish about it. To begin with, he or she does not own this vision; it belongs to the collective evolutionary efforts of humanity. To deliberately prevent a new vision from being shared with others is wrong, immoral and harmful to humanity. Perhaps, this is the reason that individuals with a vision feel compelled to share it with others. Evolutionary biology did a good job at assigning a unique task to each member of our species. A person with a creative gift is no different than anyone else. We are all equal; we only have different tasks to fulfill. This is to say than an artist or a scientist is better than a labourer or a teacher. This is why we see individuals interested in arts, whereas others take a liking to science and some find agriculture to be interesting. A skill does not have to be shared by all members, yet it dies off if not shared at all. A vision is not different. Not all of us have to be visionary, of have the same vision, but we all must share our visions with others or they will end up dying. Through evolution, we learned the importance of sharing knowledge, and now through the same process, we are learning the importance of sharing our visions. How did we acquire such an amazing power could be only explained in the same way I have explained how the development of intelligence came about. Except, in this case, the ultimate catastrophe was responsible for the development of such essential ability. We are all familiar with many catastrophic events that resulted in the death of millions of people, the Spanish Flew being one of them. The ultimate catastrophe humanity will be facing in the future is when the sun is going to self-destruct. If we all agree that at one time in the distant future, our planet is going to be destroyed as a result of the death of its star, then it is very likely that other planets and other civilizations have had to face this tragic event. In this case, intelligence alone was not going to enable anyone to survive. Intelligence by itself allows us to learn skills, the greatest of them all being the skill of communication. But to deal with the ultimate challenge any species could face, one needs an ability to predict events well before they materialize. The danger to our survival on this planet has never reached this level. However, another civilization on another planet definitely must have had to face the prospect of total annihilation at least once and perhaps more than once. Nobody knows for sure how the end is going to be. However, one can be certain that such an event is going to be very gradual. As usual, people are going to react differently. Certainly though, a minority of them is going to be propelled to contemplate surviving beyond the doomed planet. By thinking ahead, they gave birth to the new ability we now call foresight or vision. Only this ultimate impending catastrophe could have triggered the brain to devise a mechanism as such. But, since this type of total destruction is not going to take place on this planet for a few billion years, and since no other earthly species has exhibited any signs of vision despite observing many of them demonstrating intelligent behaviour, one can safely state that our ability to predict events and envision solutions to deal with them was acquired on a planet on the verge of complete annihilation. In fact, I am going to support my theory about our origin by using this development in the capacity of our brain to prove that our origin is an alien planet. Only by contemplating tragic events as such, would the reader agree with my earlier statement with regard to Darwin’s theory of evolution as being too simplistic and narrow in scope. You see, the fittest may be able to survive on this planet as long as certain conditions remain unchanged, however, the whole theory will fall apart once drastic changes take place. As we have seen a drastic event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs which were believed to be the most powerful and fit. The introduction of a new species could also lead to the same consequences. In less than a century the new settlers of North America were able to wipe out several fit and powerful species such as the bison, the dodo and cod, later on -just to name a few. As one can see, it takes more than fitness to secure perpetual survival, it takes vision and creativity. In which case, survival would not belong to the fittest, however it would clearly belong to the creative inventive visionary, and as a result, the accurate theory to be coined would be survival of the visionary. This visionary ability we are talking about, could have only evolved or blossomed if you will, by a primordial biology that has experienced near total collapse on several occasions where it was compelled to alter its DNA structure to a new one that is able to produce the necessary genes required to give birth for a visionary species. Evolutionary biology on earth has not experienced anything remotely connected to total annihilation. Even when the dinosaurs disappeared, many species survived and thrived. As a layperson, this is the scenario that makes sense to me. Also as a common person, I am willing to theorize, that as individuals, we are not at will when it comes to choosing our own genes. It is clear to me that different genes are assigned to us the day we are conceived. It is all done at random. It is completely unfair, but it is the only way to ensure the survival of the species. This is why some of us are visionary and some are not. Hopefully, this will answer the question posed at the beginning of this paragraph. Not only are our visionary assigned their tasks, but they are also compelled to act upon it and impart their knowledge to the rest of us.

Today more than ever a collective vision for our long term survival on this planet is urgently needed. For millennia past, humanity was caught in a vicious cycle of violence that had no respect for the miraculous and precious gift of life. The price for the foolish aggression of past tyrants and megalomaniacs was paid for by the blood of the innocents. Almost every country has had its share of these ruthless leaders who perpetrated these senseless atrocities. Our views on war and international violence have drastically changed after the end of the Second World War. We no longer admire nor praise warmongers - we actually despise them.

Although this change in attitude is a credit to the accomplishments of an intelligent species, should we continue to squander the earth natural resources and fail to protect the environment, future generations would be justified to view us in the same way we presently judge previous power hungry leaders. What we may consider to be a civilized society in our time may be judged as barbaric in the future. Also in the future, every accomplishment, every invention and every discovery, would be measured by the amount it helped humanity survive. Intelligence alone will not suffice. It is hardly good enough for our self-preservation. All warriors of past and present happened to be intelligent. However, this intelligence is very similar to that of a band of criminals who are only interested in the narrow definition of self-preservation as individuals or a small group not as a fully developed human civilization. In a way, we all happen to evolve in the same fashion. To this date, rarely ever do we see a young person working for the survival of species. We all start our lives looking for ourselves, for our self-preservation. A higher degree of intelligence is required to think beyond a single individual or a single clan. This intelligence is called vision. By deciding to murder others, an intelligent person is making a dumb decision. Fighting may not be mentally or morally demanding, in fact it could be the easiest thing to do, most animals and even some humans can murder others without the benefit of any weapons. Yet, despite the relatively easy effort one needs to lead a violent life, this type of behaviour is near sighted. Look at it this way: a fighter may get away with killing one or several persons, however, chances are he or she will end being assailed at the hand of another warrior. Things are different with a visionary person. He or she will be able to somehow foresee the outcome of such an approach and try to avoid it by resorting to more creative ones. For instance, he or she can take up farming or fishing. A visionary and creative mind tells you that there is no need to fight. Furthermore, it somehow introduces you to something bigger than self-preservation, something called survival of the species. This empathy for other human beings which in general we develop as adult is the corner stone for the survival of the human race. Most individuals who harm humanity know nothing about it, even after they had matured. The reason warmongers of past and present have succeed in waging wars can be traced to the following facts. Most recruits are young and know nothing about their responsibility to the human cause. As young and immature, they have no trouble obeying orders that could lead to genocide. We have seen it throughout history; I mean who can forget the holocaust. Recently we have seen it happening in Rwanda and Darfur. Caring for humanity is not something which intelligence alone can provide. Any bright person is able to get ahead in life. But even the most intelligent individual, once the comfort zone is reached, is prone to become a prisoner to mechanical or robotic intelligence which hardly differs from mechanical biology. Discharging a professional duty is mentally very taxing, however, even accountants, lawyers and surgeons become limited to mechanical thinking. Regardless of the profession, the individual who is performing the same exercise day in, day out, and going through the same routine hour after hour, is bound to limit his or her mental activities to a very narrow scope of his or her intelligent capacity, which translates into mechanical intelligence - at least in the long run. Indirectly, these individual are helping humanity survive. They may even think about the survival of the species. However, it is the creative visionary who contributes most to the long term survival of our species.

Thomas Edison once observed that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. But according to Einstein, imagination is more important than knowledge. How true! A vision is a spark of creativity, a burst of imagination that may last but an instant, but it is these rare occasions of pure creativity which have been enriching humanity over the centuries. One per cent may not sound like much but when it is added on perpetually over the years and the number of contributors is taken into consideration, these minute accomplishments, when their whole is accumulated, suddenly becomes much greater than the total of its sum. Intelligence, reason and logic may devise the best system in many disciplines; help create the best technicians; refine the craft and skills of the best artisans, however, without this compelling drive to invent and create, we would all be confined to mechanical intelligence. In fact, the goal of education should be set to encourage students to think beyond learning, for knowledge alone is also a form of mechanical intelligence. In some respect, such a mediocre goal would only be useful to breed a whole bunch of intelligent robots. Future generations must be made aware of the fact that it takes this one per cent of divine reflection to make things better; it takes this miraculous burst in creativity, this visionary spark of imagination to come up with new inventions. One per cent is not much until one realizes that this one per cent is the discovery that is akin to finding a diamond in the rough or the formation of a new concept that could be useful for every generation to come. Not only did we acquire an inventive mind, but we were able to put it to good use first by developing a language and later on by introducing writing. Inventing the alphabet is a simple concept created by a forgotten civilization called Phoenicia, yet it is the essential tool that gave birth to writing - an art that enables us to store documents and thoughts in such a way where our memory alone would be inadequate to handle even a small portion of any work. Indeed, writing has turned our memorizing capacity from being limited to being an infinite one. In fact, Gutenberg moving press, which is undoubtedly the most important gadget in the human history, would be of no use had it not been for writing. Intelligence and awareness can tell you that the temperature is cold and heavy layers of cloths or leather are essential, however, vision, imagination and creativity go a step further by presenting you with a picture on how to overcome this problem. In essence, they reveal to you how cloths and mittens can be made from different materials to protect you from the element. Although today we take this invention for granted, our ancestors had to work very hard before they were able to create proper and protective attires. Even when an invention takes place, the creative process continues. For after invention, innovation never seems to stop. Edison himself is credited with inventing hundreds of new gadgets, yet without innovations his inventions would have stayed the same. As significant as his inventions were, not too many people would want to see them back in use today. After discovering the new CD player who would want to go back to the phonograph. A recycled idea can only stay interesting for a certain period, without fresh thoughts, creativity becomes stale. There is no doubt that biology and chemistry are able to create intelligent life. I am even inclined to speculate that somewhere in space some chemicals are the host of such intelligent life. Still any intelligent life form must adhere to new rules that have been necessitated by intelligence itself. We have seen how in the case of matter and biology things must continuously change and recreate. It is no different when it comes to ideas and thoughts. However, in this case the creation is more intellectual and visual as opposed to being of chemical and biological nature. Thanks to vision, our species was able to avoid creating an all-powerful genius that knows and controls everything and needs no assistance from anyone else. This is not how creativity works and such a super being would not be creative at all. Instinctively, most of us would be inclined to be powerful, strong and independent. However, we have a better shot at surviving when we can coordinate our skills and knowledge. No matter how powerful and clever one individual can become, he or she would be in a better position if other members are willing to share their resources. This sharing is a two way street. A person can depend on the group but the group should be able to depend on the individual as well. We happen to be the first species to realize that by working together, we stand a better chance at surviving. It was this realization that compelled us to evolve socially. In retrospect it is obvious that a push toward a totally independent individual would be a big mistake. One person may be able to acquire a huge repertoire of knowledge, but what good would that be if he or she did not have the ability to communicate and create. The ability to create, invent, imagine and foresee, is a necessity not a luxury. Parents rushing in the future to alter their children genes hoping to make them smarter will be shocked to know that if scientists were to promote one individual to a status where he or she can do it all, humanity would be doomed to self-destruction. Our evolution as humans was made possible by our need for one another. Take this need away and we would be talking about a different species. Again, here on earth, we never could have developed a brain that is capable of solving any problems - let alone having the capacity to predict unforeseen events and visualize long term plans. Other species may exhibit signs of intelligence, yet no other species have proven to be visionary, except ours. Why? They did not have to; foresight and vision were never needed to survive for them. If we were physiologically developed at the same level we would not need them either. Indeed, we would have developed like the dinosaurs. Vision is but one of many tools we acquired as an intelligent species to help us stay creative, inventive, innovative and inquisitive. Like space, creativity is boundless. Intelligent life happened to be the domain of a whole species and not confined to certain individuals for a good reason: intelligence without interaction is a ticket to death. Regardless of how powerful, knowledgeable, intelligent or great one person is, without interaction, he or she would have no creative mind. Conversely, without having an inquisitive mind, it would be impossible to discover anything. From what we see, it is easy to conclude that there is a clear danger in being alone, however powerful one might be. Ironically, even doctors need patients to stay in business. Think of how powerful the dinosaurs were and of their demise. The conclusion here is simple: a human being is an intelligent being that cannot exist without an intelligent species. To stay alive, the spirit of creativity requires a continuous interaction of numerous minds. Long before the Internet was created, we had our own network of information in the form of a civilized society. Without this perpetual exercise nothing new could ever be created- a condition which would spell the end of the creative spirit. Not only must this spirit stay active to help us lead a better life, but as we shall see it is also needed to help us survive beyond this planet. For a species to acquire this ability, its survival as a whole entity must be threatened on many occasions, yet, despite all odds, it had managed to survive. For the entire history of life on earth, there is not a single species that had experienced such events. In most cases the species succumb to the first threat and dies off. Dinosaurs are the perfect example. There are thousands more. The evolution of the creative, inquisitive, inventive and visionary mind is not accidental; it was made possible by our quest for immortality or to be more precise by the process of continuous creation. Think of it this way: an evolution strictly confined to biology and physiology is very limited, whereas on the other hand, creativity, vision and imagination are boundless. Still, on earth, all other species, excluding ours of course, have been able to survive by evolving biologically and physiologically. Without a doubt, had our origin been this planet, we would be evolving in the same way. But we didn’t’t, and this is why it is clear to me that these intellectual assets were acquired long before we made our appearance on this planet. More to the point, our planet is home for millions if not billions of different species; it has been established, according to our study and that of many scientists that every living thing eventually succeeds in developing a brain and acquiring a mind. However, no species other than ours has been able to develop an inventive creative mind. It was deduced from our discussion that this inventive mind was not needed to survive on earth. In my opinion, the fact that our mind differ so much from any other ones known to us, ought to prove that the evolution of our mind could not have taken place on earth. Most biologists tend to paint our species as a close relative to many primates. This comparison is flawed even from a biological perspective. The dissimilarities become more clear when we examine the evolution of the mind. Certainly, the behaviour of many animals may be connected to an intelligent mind, but no other species has ever proven to be inventive or creative. Needless to say that there is a big difference between a creative mind and a mechanical one.

Not only is static intelligence incapable of becoming creative, not only does it fail to support humanity as a collective cause, more importantly at times it might act as an agent to harm this cause. Most serial killers, for instance, are believed to have very active minds. Napoleon was a genius for war, yet his insatiable hunger for power led to many tragic deaths and caused humanity to suffer. Intelligence without vision, wisdom and respect for justice could easily turn to madness and cause all kinds of atrocities. Look at Hitler, whether you consider him to be insane or not, his intelligence was greater than most individuals, yet his obsession with ruling the world led to the destruction of civilization and caused the death of millions of people. Stalin was no different. But why go to such extremes! Are not most crimes in this world committed by intelligent people? Definitely, our brains would have evolved differently if it were the end product of terrestrial biology. Having a powerful brain is meant to help us compete for survival, yet over millennia it was used to destroy us. No biological life would be stupid enough to create an apparatus which could lead to its destruction. Cannibalism is a dirty word, but senseless killing is even worse. Not only has the brain been the tool used to wage wars, but it also made easier for all types of thugs and psychopaths to find ways of tortures and devise methods of killings that are not to be practiced by any other predator on earth. A brain is a very powerful apparatus, its use, misuse or lack of use could lead to tragic consequences. When under used, if leads to boredom if not depression. Even awareness leads to all sorts of mental anguish and emotional pain, something hardly experienced by most living things. The rise in mental illness provides a compelling proof to my argument. Only when vision becomes part of the equation does the need for a powerful brain become justifiable. Even in our time, vision is still a rare commodity. If this vision was developed on another planet, than so did our brain. Look how easy brain and knowledge can become obsolete. Left to intelligence alone, the best mechanical engineer of today is not going to help the human cause if we were to experience a severe oil shortage. The vision to plan for an alternative life style will. Medicine, perhaps the highest profession, without compassion can also be used to destroy humanity. Even when the mind is performing at its best, it does not mean much unless it makes a clear contribution to humanity, in other word: intelligence without empathy without interaction is of no benefit to humanity. Let’s be clear on this: the only reason an inventive, creative powerful mind was useful is because it helped humanity evolve socially which in turn made it possible for many civilizations to flourish. As we can observe biological and physiological evolution is limited to physical improvement, only through a huge civilized society does intellectual, scientific and artistic progress take place. We cannot look at the evolution of man by focusing on biology alone. The fact that no species other than ours interacts intellectually proves that survival on earth does not require the development of such intellectual skills as language and writing. The fact that we happen to be the only species to acquire a language is a clear indication that complex and rigorous mental exercises were part of our daily survival long before we appeared on planet earth. This language was not invented here on earth. No other species saw a need for it; we did for a simple reason: long before our landing on this planet, our very survival on a different one with a much harsher climate required the cooperation of all members. These members were already performing tasks that required a complex brain, developing a language was only logical to enhance their communicative abilities. Inventing such a sophisticated language proves to us that a powerful, inventive, creative, complex brain was not enough to ensure survival, it also needed the cooperation and collaboration of other similar brains and above all, it needed vision as well. Conversely, the civilization we are alluding to would have had to be far more complex and advanced than our modern civilization. Evidence uncovered by archaeologists suggests that early humans were intellectuals. Despite their physical, physiological and biological disadvantages, they were able to survive without the need for any inventions or tools. From an evolutionary perspective, it didn’t’t make any sense to acquire any intellectual faculties. The only way one may be able to explain this astonishing contrast with all other species is by going back to what has been established earlier on in this essay. Our evolution must have taken place on another planet that was completely different than earth. It would be a great shame to see such a sophisticated species perish after surviving a planetary journey. Not because of the ultimate impending catastrophe we alluded to previously, but because of complacency and negligence. Our generation must try very hard to project a better image of itself for future generations. Unlike our ancestors, we have more freedom and can’t blame all the harm done to the environment on ruthless dictators, nor can we expect to squander the earth resources without shouldering some responsibility for our behaviour. Only vision would help us realize that current arrangements are no longer conducive for our long term survival. Let’s face it, the only way to prove that intelligent life is an improvement over a dump life, an asset as opposed to being a liability, is for us to survive beyond this planet. Failing that, we would be the unluckiest species to walk the earth. Just think of all the agony and anguish a powerful and conscious brain inflicts on us every day. Just being aware of death alone is a burden that no other species has to cope with. Mentally anguish and emotional pain is another load confined to humans.

It is my sincere hope that the next part of this essay would provide common citizens, present and future leaders with the input to form a collective vision on how our generation should plan for our long term survival as an intelligent caring species rather than a ruthless barbaric one. The fittest may be able to survive for a long time, but the species that is going to make it beyond this planet is going to be the one with collective vision. Survival of the fittest is a theory that may apply for terrestrials. Survival of the visionary would be a more adequate description for the ones who are going to make it beyond this planet. If you detect an emotional tone emerging, don’t be surprised for the next chapter is going to analyze how important it was for an intelligent visionary species to acquire emotions.