The term, "Ignorance is bliss" comes to mind. It is scary to think of what our 'intelligence' has brought us. On the other hand, it has also brought us art, music, culture, advancements in health care.
True. But no amount of art or music threatens the very existence of our entire species - except for Britney Spears
(or emo
) Humankind has, and always has, faced many threats to its existence - but never before in the known history of this planet has an entire species developed the capability to wipe itself out. Even better, some individuals have developed the idea that this is a good thing, since they (not the rest of us!) will spend all eternity in Heaven with 72 virgins
It's rather curious how humans are the only ones that we know of to have such a high evolved intellect. I mean, WAY beyond any other species. You would think that other species would have also evolved intellectually as a means of survival, but non have to the extent that humans have.
As you can see, there were more than one "species" of "human" (ie, those species closest related to us) that have even coexisted and come into conflict—in which case the more intelligent species won out.
Year.Zero has highlighted a hugely significant fact that is the very essence of natural selection. Our species -
Homo sapiens - may be the only species to have evolved a higher intellect
and survived, but our ancestors certainly had plenty of competition for the throne. In this particular 'battle', there could only be one winner, and we are the result. Strictly speaking, our intellect is not way beyond every other species that has ever existed. It may be superior to any current species, but we should never forget that our great intellect (and everything else for that matter) is a result of "standing on the shoulders of giants", and not a 'human achievement'...
Not one species on the planet can reason the way humans can to the extent that they can. I think that's significant when the Bible says we were created in His own image.
It may be a uniquely human quality to be able to use reason to such a degree, but it's precisely this quality that allows us to attempt to understand our origins and question the reasons for our existence. No other species (to our knowledge) does this because they can't do it. This raises a very interesting point. It is our ability to reason that allows us to even contemplate/conceptualize/understand/praise/worship/invent God in the first place. Some religious evolutionists (like a colleague of mine) argue that humankind is the result of directed evolution or that humankind was somehow inevitable. Most other evolutionists, however, disagree subtly but significantly and say that human-like reasoning and higher intellect may be inevitable, but that our exact species most certainly wasn't. Therefore, to say that 'humans' were made (uniquely) in the image of God is almost certainly not literally true. However, I can see why any species (whatever it turned out to be) that attains higher intellect and reasoning might think it was created in the image of a God.
Depends on what you consider success. I'd say our complete and utter domination of the planet should be considered hugely successful compared to other long lasting animals.
True, it does depend on what you consider success, and by any measure, humans are supremely successful animals. But I wouldn't go as far to say that we hold 'complete and utter' dominion over this planet. 'Complete' is certainly not correct. I don't think any species could ever make such a lofty claim given the sheer amount of other species (i.e. bacteria, plants, animals) and non-human processes (such as photosynthesis) that we are utterly dependent upon for our survival.
And I seriously doubt that mankind will kill itself off. We've managed not only to have nuclear weapons capable of destroying every human being on Earth, we've also managed to be smart enough NOT to kill every human being no the planet.
This may be true, but given the timescales we're talking about, our ability to not kill off our own species yet is decidedly a fledgling ability. We've only had nuclear weapons for less than 70 years and already the world has stood on the brink of nuclear holocaust more than once.
Probably. Either way, there ain't going to be many virgins waiting, let alone a bus-full of them.
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