Читать книгу Survival: The Ultimate Mission - Robert M.D. Skaf - Страница 9

BEYOND INTELLECT

(In the struggle for survival, emotions have always been ignored or misunderstood. It is a mistake to judge any present behaviour based on years or decades of history or even centuries. We cannot encapsulate billions of years of evolution in a few years of observation. Insects invented chemicals such as pheromone to communicate and assign tasks, our species invented emotions to do job. You will know what I am talking about after you have read this chapter.)

Most evolutionists believe that life is the product of a biological process that only involves chemical and organic interaction. The majority of them also are convinced that the human race evolved from other living forms, an event that needed billions of years to reach fruition. Although most of them fail to deny the existence of something special about the human kind, they refuse to attribute anything distinguishable in the human race to any spiritual or intellectual force. In their view intelligence is the product of the brain which is generated from the reaction of its chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine, and the body own electrical charges that are transmitted through neurons and other channels that form a network similar to a circuit which allows any living form to think on its own .

On the other hand, creationists believe in the existence of a Great Spirit that gave birth to the human race. From there, every religious sect comes up with its own version of why this Great Spirit created us. While evolutionists don't make the slightest attempt at discovering the reason for our existence, creationists' views are varied and may border on the bizarre at times.

The prevailing Christian view can be summarized in the following sentence: God created us to worship him. The Jewish version is somewhat similar and most striking of all is how Islam had adopted the same concept. Since Judaism happened to be older than the other two faiths, it is not surprising that both Islam and Christianity have elected to include the Jewish beliefs in their respective dogma.

These traditional religions are adamant about the origin of humans. Almost everyone on this planet knows about God and the story of Adam and Eve. Not only do I find the story of Adam and Eve to be the product of imagination of some creative mind; but, as stated earlier, I do not believe in the existence of a creator, intelligent designer or spiritual power. One does not have to be a scientist to hold the same views. The latest surveys show that the majority of people in Britain don’t believe God exists. Eventually, more people will find it increasingly difficult to believe in something whose existence can’t be proven. Interestingly, open minded believers admit that from a purely scientific stand, it is hard to proof that life is somehow created by a spirit much less believe in the afterlife. More on the subject of religion later.

Although I am convinced that biology alone was responsible for the creation of life, my views were that the human race as a species evolved long before life on earth took hold. Scientists may have provided us with an accurate description of how other species had evolved on this planet and one day may be able to explain how the brain works. Furthermore, may be they are right in comparing the human race to other species and even equating our intelligence with many other living forms. As a matter of fact it was stated earlier in this essay that many animals are capable of thinking and capable of performing different tasks that require a certain degree of intelligence. According to evidence uncovered recently, chimps in Africa were using clubs made of bones and stones for hunting and cracking nuts. Still, the difference between humans and other living things is not restricted to the level of intelligence. In my view, the reason we ended up at the top of the food chain cannot to be contributed only to the size of our brain. The most important element we possess as a species is not intelligence. Having billions of intelligent people who think alike and behave in the same fashion does not distinguish us from other species, even if we happened to be the only species that is capable of conducting abstract analytical reasoning. As discussed earlier, having a vision does. However, as we shall discover, having a unique personality may also prove to be as important as having a vision. We may share common features with other living forms but this is where the comparison should end. Members of every species strive to be a copy of the strongest and the fittest because the survival of every living form, except us, depends on being strong and fit. As humans we want to be strong and fit, there is no illusion about having this desire in all of us. But being fit requires the elimination of the weak members. Although some of us may feel comfortable subscribing to these natural tendencies, most of us find it repugnant to say the least. Most of us don’t have the stomach to kill or enslave others. Why? The answer is simple. We have emotions and feelings that permeate biology. In purely biological terms it makes every sense for everyone to be shaped in the image of the strongest and fittest, but when it comes to visionary planning, this type of thinking is short sighted. The reason we were able to dominate all other species is the result of our ability to be different and unique. Lions are strong; they hunt, eat and sleep. We are different. We may hunt, all of us eat and sleep, however, not all of us turn out to be hunters or warriors. Even at the dawn of civilization, there were tribes who preferred fishing to farming, others were satisfied with hunting, and food gathering was the choice of many. This diversity in living style can only be attributed to emotions- the forgotten element. Although scientists have recognized the important role of emotions, they have failed in describing the correct and critical role they play in our struggle to survive. According to them, emotions compel us to help others. The fact is we do not need this element to care for other members of our species. Instinct would suffice. Most living things exhibit no emotions, yet they are intuitively programmed to care for their offspring and instinctively prepared to help the species survive. Things are different with us. Even at the earliest stage of our survival, the overriding role of emotions was clearly different. After developing a powerful brain, we found ourselves in need of an element which would help us choose from all the options available - starting from choosing a mate to settling in certain place - in other word, help us quickly decide on matters relating to survival or non-survival. Furthermore, as we later were to realize, we also needed something to help us limit those choices and preferences. And this is what emotions, desires and yearnings are meant to do. Long before the development of a complex modern society, there were warriors, story tellers, painters, inventors, hunters, singers, musicians and the list goes on. Perhaps back then the importance of having such a wide and diverse preferences did not matter all that much. Today things are completely different. We know now that our modern and complex society could not even have existed if some of us did not have the desire to explore new frontiers and challenge the status quo along with rebelling against the leaders. It is obvious that if some of us did not have the inclination to become doctors; and others the desire to be mechanics; or a few to have the vocation to be teachers, or choose law or other careers, modern society would have never evolved to this level of sophistication. Let’s face it; no one can learn to be good at doing everything. Most of us can become proficient in one discipline such as medicine or law, rarely ever an individual succeeds in mustering more than one domain. Our mental capacity is limited. By taking a quick look at the list of courses offered by universities and colleges one can clearly realize how varied and diverse our interests are. And they range from the somber such as forensic science and pathology to the delightful such as decoration and beautification. At last count there were 60,000 different career opportunities that are taught at different university and colleges. It is this collection of varied brains that has transformed us into a powerful, resourceful, tenacious and resilient species. However, this collective knowledge of all these individuals would mean nothing had it not been for our ability to work together and trade ideas and knowledge. In this respect, interacting with others is not a choice, it is a compelling exercise. And there lies our real power as a super species. Logistically speaking, it would be impossible for one person to attain a brain power remotely close to the power of this network of brains; nevertheless, even if somehow someone that belongs to an unknown super species were to garner such a super brain, the need for interacting with others would still be essential for the species to survive. Still, the desire to be different does not end with learning unique skills and creating distinctive work. Take a look at the wide varieties in sport; there are hundreds if not thousands of different recreational activities to choose from. We even tend to be different at the time spent at leisure. Biologists would argue that the desire for physical exercise is not limited to the human species. Most animals spend some of their time doing some work out, for they know intuitively that by staying fit, they improve their chances of surviving. Some scientists may even find no difference between our desire to learn and that of other mammals. It has been recorded on several occasion that most predators spend a great deal of time and effort teaching their off springs the skills required for hunting and surviving. However, this is not what is at issue here. I am not arguing whether other living forms are intelligent or not, whether evolution as theory can be proven or not, what this essay is trying to establish is that our evolution as species could not have taken place on earth. The argument in this chapter is an attempt to proof that desires, longings, dreams, aspirations, emotions, sentiments and feelings do not only serve a crucial role in our survival, more importantly, they were acquired long before the first human appeared on this planet. I have argued in so far that without emotions our species would be no different than any other living forms that have showed signs of intelligence, yet hardly exhibited any emotions - let alone deep feelings toward anything. The benefits of this element are clear. Despite the fact that many of us tend to ridicule cultures that are highly emotional, we now see that emotions, feelings, sentiments and desires are necessary components in shaping our identity as humans. Moreover, they are essential for creating an advanced society. It is hard to fathom that without the desire to accomplish something, no one would aspire to become a doctor, an engineer or anything. Most achievers in life start their quest as a result of taking an early liking to something at a young age. Great directors were fascinated with a movie they saw or a play they read. Most writers tend to be inspired by other writers they have read. The majority of scientists are influenced by other factors that have nothing to do with pure science. The series Star Trek, for instance, has inspired several new high tech inventions- the cellular phone being one. Without this ability to choose, without a component to have a preference, it would be impossible for us to be selective about our interest and the things we aspire to learn. When we can’t focus we are unable to develop our limited mental capacity, for we don’t start to gain knowledge until we determine the area we like to explore. Our yearning to reach something worthy of accomplishment, our commitment to conquer something worthy of discovering and our intuitive devotion to the human cause, are the components that help us in choosing and focusing. Initially, our respective work may be clumsy, but eventually things get much better once we are given a chance to learn the technique and skills involved. If you ever played any sport you would know exactly what I am talking about. Tennis is a sport I picked up at the age of 34, for the first few weeks I did not find it to be enjoyable nor did my opponents and for a good reason. Who wants to play tennis with a rookie? Not until my game improved did I start to find pleasure playing the game- much to the relief of my friends. This is a process we go through at every level. Things always start small and boring until we learn enough to challenge others and create our own version at a level which we can be proud of. Without passion, without desire, we would n’t be able to endure the stress and rigor that are associated with learning and accomplishing. We succeed best when we put our heart and soul in our work. We excel when we take pride in our achievement.

Next time you encounter a person who knows too much, note how his or her mind wanders endlessly over every subject. Sadly I have friends who lack the ability of selecting and who have failed in life and business. I don’t know much about psychology, but I suspect that a lot of people who suffer emotionally can trace their malaise back to their inability to focus on the essential things in life and discard the frivolous and trivial. However, as with everything else, emotions have their downside as well. One may observe that the minute they were acquired, our species has condemned itself to pain and suffering. Along with this development we have evolved to recognize time. (More details on why we evolved to be intelligent and conscious will be provided later). No other species is known to recognize the emotional anguish and the psychological torture humans experience or inflict on others from time to time. By their nature, emotions are meant to be uncontrollable. Almost every day we witness a tragedy resulting from someone who has failed to control them. Jealousy and envy are the perfect examples of how emotions are able to defy logic and trump our basic instinct. To stay thin, we develop all kinds of eating disorders. Most people suffering from this infliction cannot stand the fact that others are prettier. They obsess in this notion to the point where they fall victims to self-destruction. It is a well-known fact that successful people suffer the most on the hand of their immediate families. Having a successful relative should be the source of strength and security, yet, envy is known to even turn siblings against each other. Instinct and logic tell us that co-operation is important for survivor, yet, on how many occasions do we hear of friends and relatives harming one another because of jealousy. No other species is known to behave in such manner. Why are we the exception? There is one answer: unlike other species, our biological and physiological evolution has stopped long time ago whereas we are still evolving socially, mentally and emotionally. The frequency of many violent incidents that are related to emotions would only start to diminish once we start having a better understanding of the awesome impact emotions happen to have on each and every one of us. According to the theory of evolution, species improve their chances of survival by physiologically and biologically developing features such as speed and strength. We need to improve our understanding of the non-physical and the invisible world, we have to learn how to use features such as emotions and feelings to our advantage and not to our peril. I can say from experience that desires, emotions and sentiments are best left to randomness. Not only seeking to bring them under full and permanent control would be a grave error, but also it would and should be impossible. We must accept the fact that longing for something is not weakness, to the contrary, our ability to desire should never be suppressed. Having different emotions and desire is what makes us such a unique species, without this wide range of choices of longings, we would all be the same and we would have no individuality. Part of the reason gambling is a popular past time runs deeper than fighting boredom or fulfilling a satisfaction to win or quenching a desire for greed. One must remember that risk taking was part of our daily life as recently as a few decades past - in fact this way of life still exists in some parts of the world. Modern life has engendered a new human. We do not worry about where to find the next meal. We can drive or even walk over to a grocery store and pick what we want. This was not the case in the past. The simplest attempt of gathering food or hunting was rife with danger. Yet, hunger left you with no choice but to take the challenge. Many hunters fell to other predators, yet many more carried on with the mission of survival. Many fishermen drowned, yet many generations continued on challenging the sea. Even farming is a gamble. One is never certain how the crop is going to turn up. Even in our modern times, most farmers and food providers still take a chance. It was much more difficult when most of us lived on farms and had no other means to sustain themselves. On top of having to deal with angry nature, most of us were always falling victims to wars and conflicts. Risk taking and gambling is etched in our brains and it is part of our DNA. We cannot survive without it. Bad to gamble worse not to gamble at all. An adage I often use when friends wonder about gambling and risk taking. We are all born with a drive to explore the unknown. We all have a sense of the insecure world we live in. We are all puzzled by the many mysteries of life, mystified by the role fate, randomness, happenstance, coincidence and luck play in our daily life. Randomness, coincidence and chance are for real and cannot be denied. They are at work all the time and everywhere. They are present as stars and planets form, as atoms fuse, as celestial bodies collide, as elements come to be and they are present from the day we are born. These are the forces that are able to play a role in the formation of cosmos and they sure play a role in our lives. Not only did we acquire emotions, feelings and desires, but, nature also saw to it that they were to be acquired at random. Millions of students attend schools and learn the same subjects; they all have emotions; but, it is the random emotions that thrust some into liking physics and other into preferring subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, biology, literature and etc… Whoever coined the phrase (life does not come with a guarantee) does not have to worry about any challenge. This saying will always be relevant, for no one will ever know what tomorrow will bring. Gambling brings us face to face with this challenge. It is a reflection of our deepest desire to explore and conquer the unknown. Perhaps this is one of the reasons so many of us develop an addiction to this activity. If all the foregoing seems to be complicated, sorry this is the way things are. Basically, all what I am trying to say is that emotions, desires, longings, sentiments and many other feelings cannot be the by- products of biology. We have seen the systematic and methodical rules by which biology conducts itself. Though every step it makes may be logical and every decision it takes may sound reasonable, emotions are not part of any purely biological existence. For instance, as a species bees are magnificent in every respect. In terms of efficiency; the contribution they make for the survival of plants and trees; the way they recycle everything, saving the environment from any harm - intentionally or unintentionally; the precise and complex method by which their colonies build honey combs of wax; the harmony and cooperation among the members; the discipline, the selfless dedication every bee adheres to for the sake of others are admirable quality to say the least. One may go as far as to rate them as highly intelligent - we certainly can learn a lesson or two from them when it comes to the conservation and the protection of the environment. Yet, as efficient and intelligent they may be, individuality, creativity and innovative spirit are not part of their society, for they have no emotions, desires, longings nor do they exhibit any feelings. And this is not the only downside facing such homogeneous societies. Like so many species, each bee is the exact copy of the other which may spell danger when the whole colony is faced with a sudden threat. Extreme weather conditions for instance has brought death to a huge population of bees, a new virus could wreak havoc and may bring an entire subspecies to the brink of extinction, also a newly emerging predator could inflict the same tragic genocide. During the nineties, African bees, dubbed killer bees, almost annihilated the entire bee population indigenous to South America. We may be as susceptible and vulnerable, but thanks to our individuality and creativity, we are better equipped than bees, and as far as I know any other species to deal with unexpected threats to our survival.

As one can easily observe, only humans happened to have attained this strong desire to invent, create and explore. Other species may share the same desires with us, but at a scale hardly noticeable. Beavers can build perfect dams, the majority of birds are able to build sophisticated nests; ants and bees are renowned for their ability to construct complex structure to house their colonies; trapping spiders are supreme web spinners; still, none of them has gone beyond the basic requirements of survival. Why? They did not have to. They evolved on earth and up until now, there has not been a need for them to be more creative or inventive than what they are. On the other hand, our desire to invent, create and discover seems to be boundless. And as far as I am concerned there can be only one reason for this discrepancy: our emotions happened to evolve on a different planet just as we did. As long as this planet offers the same hospitable conditions, there will be no need for any species to be more creative and inventive. In fact, there is no need even for us to come up with anything new, yet we all know this is not going to happen. Reason and logic tell us that by learning from others we can survive and do well. However, our desires cannot be satisfied unless we as individuals are able to surpass the status quo. It is this longing, this deep emotional desire to create, invent and discover that helped reach this level of sophistication. The brain is happy in copying others and repeating their maneuvers; by learning the common thinking and observing the common practices; one can easily secure his or her self-preservation; but, as it so happens, we are not emotionally satisfied by just learning. Our evolutionary emotion makes it imperative for us to invent, create and discover. Furthermore, without longings, without the desire to achieve the impossible, our creativity and imagination would be at a great risk of becoming stale. Early on, we have discussed how a created force ends up controlling its creator as is the case with gravity and electricity; things are no different when it comes to emotions. The brain and the mind may be the creators; however, human emotions have evolved to command the overriding role of poking and prodding the mind and the brain into never becoming complacent. Examining the way progress takes place, leads me to this conclusion: evolutionary biology may have produced the brain, the mind may be synonymous with intelligence, however, evolutionary emotions made sure they keep expanding. This type of evolution, where emotions have a more prominent role than biology in shaping a species, does not occur with any other species. With this observation, one can really see why I strongly believe in us having a much earlier pre-earth origin. It is no coincidence that we feel a need to populate other planets, it is because our innate instincts tell us that all the inventions, all the technologies, all the sciences, all the arts and all the innovations humanity may attain would amount to nothing if we are doomed to be destroyed as this planet makes its final rotation in a few billion years from now. Of all the species that make this earth their home, we are the only one aware of this ultimate catastrophe. Our greatest challenge would be to succeed in surviving beyond this planet. We know this because we have been through the same tragic event before -perhaps several times. We are trying so hard to discover new hospitable planets because we have achieved the same feat before. Unlike other species, our evolution has never been purely biological, because biology alone is not going to help us survive beyond this planet. It has been demonstrated in the preceding sections how massive particles or non-particles can create their own forces, living things are able to create their own forces as well. Our species was able to create this forgotten force we call emotion. This force had to be acquired for a good reason: it was needed. On this planet, this boundless force is hardly a necessity; we definitely can survive without it. It was acquired on a different planet where there was a need for it; and where without it our species would have faced complete extinction.

Before ending this chapter I would like to go back to Darwin and his theory. It was stated earlier on that no one is disputing the fact that all species evolve including us. My expressed opinion was that due to the size of our brain it was impossible for us to have had originated on this planet. Having other unique components such as vision, creativity, desires and emotions, is another point in my argument. For any species to acquire something so unique and so abstract - as opposed to being biological - require a long period of time, we can’t say for sure how long, but it would certainly take a lot longer than the time we have been on this planet. Although different explanations were proposed, to cap off, I must go back to the time our planet became hospitable to life. We know that planets can be made of different elements. Astrophysicists are of the opinion that prior to this development, a huge collision between our planet and another one took place and the moon was formed as a result. That is probably what happened, however, who is to say that another planet or many for that matter, made exclusively of ice and water did not somehow collide with our planet to give birth to this splendid organism we call earth. This concept is not far-fetched. We know for a fact the huge deposit of nickel - found in what is known as the nickel belt in Sudbury, Canada - came from an asteroid that collided with earth some millions of years back. It is also possible that the reason oil is found in such huge quantities in a small area in the Middle East happens to be the result of another collision with an asteroid made exclusively of crude oil or an element such as coal that was transmuted into oil upon impact. How else can one explain the concentration of oil in a basin that shares borders with Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia? There is hardly any oil deposit in Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria or Turkey, six countries that are a few hundred kilometers away from this basin. Most of the oil in Canada is found in Alberta. Considering the fact that Canada land mass is over ten million square kilometers, one must wonder if there is any explanation for having all this oil concentrated in a small area except to say that came to exist as a result from a celestial body colliding with earth at that particular location.

These events described previously are meant to bolster the possibility which holds that the origin of life may well be from outer space, in which case the origin of every life form would be foreign to this planet. Furthermore, some species may have survived this collision and they would have existed much longer than we have ever thought. The same hypotheses apply to our case. We may have been on this planet for a relatively short time; nevertheless, our history may be traced back to another planet where we had lived for billions of years. During that time, which appears to have spanned an eternity, it would be safe to assume that genetic engineering was at work. Darwin did not know about this newly developed magical science. Judging by how this new technology is able to alter the structure of cells and genes, one cannot ignore the fact that natural evolution has not been free of human interference in our distant past. If somehow other species were part of the group who might have landed on earth, Darwin theory would become irrelevant. Viruses are another clear indication of the different origins of life on this planet. If all living forms were to evolve exclusively from bacteria grown on earth, no viruses would be around. It is impossible to come up with a definite answer, or at least as far as I am concerned, I have not heard of any sure reason for the need of viruses for the evolution of life. This is why it would be safe for me to speculate that viruses were created by different living forms to fight off space invaders. One might say that viruses are the way species engage in self-induced biological wars. This theory should come as a no surprise to us, snakes, spiders, scorpions produce lethal venoms to defend themselves and destroy preys. Skunks urine could be deadly for many threatening predators. Some mice are known to carry their own viruses around. Had earth been the origin of all species, one would doubt the need for developing this type of biological warfare.

In conclusion, anytime we consider any theory to have come up with the absolute answer, we are making a grave mistake. From the way we have evolved to the reason we evolved, one can clearly see that the process is much more complex and intriguing than most biologists, Darwin in particular, present it to be. I am sure that as science progresses, other thinkers are going to come up with better and more refined views on our journey as a species. The next chapter is going to deal with the subconscious mind and how emotions are again responsible for setting ours apart from all other species.