Most Intelligent Creatures?

Did you ever stop to think what, exactly, you were ‘supposed’ to be accomplishing with your existence…? For that matter, did you ever even wonder why you felt that something was ‘supposed’ to be accomplished? I mean why is it that we, as intelligent (supposedly) creatures, even let ourselves think that certain activities are more noble than others? Is this really the case? I actually believe that this is the case; however I’ve begun to question the reasoning behind all this. I think that the only thing that anybody is ever actually able to strive for is happiness – anything else would be rather counter-productive … now, wouldn’t it?

Bottom line here is that we’re only going to exist for an extremely brief period of time. I vaguely remember hearing something about the entire existence of human beings thus far being pretty much inconsequential – something like a mere fraction of a second if the existence of the universe were compressed to a single, 24 hour day. If you then understand that the average lifespan is a mere fraction of total human existence, it becomes pretty clear that one human being’s existence is darn near close to nothing.

Interesting? Sure, I think so. Pretty much meaningless? Yep.

Why I believe this to be meaningless is pretty easy to explain. After all, the incredibly small ratio of human existence to complete existence in no way changes the fact that I exist. Although I am aware that my existence has a currently unknown expiration date, the fact of the matter remains that I do currently exist. Not only that, but I – being a true atheist – honestly believe that there will be nothing (at least for me) after I die. I have absolutely no delusions about any form of after-life. I can very easily remember what it was like to not exist – the few billion years that passed prior to my birth – and I can just as easily imagine what my non-existence will be like after my death.

Many people have decided to believe in one of the many many religions that have been created as a justification for their existence; however believing in set of rules in no way makes these rules valid. All it does is give people a completely irrational sense of superiority over anyone who chooses not to believe in that person’s chosen rule-set. The result of this ends up being justification for causing pain (and, more often than not, death) to fellow humans that happen to exist in the same time-frame that these believers do. This is absolutely asinine.

I’m lead to wonder what this world would be like if these religions were never created. What would the world be like if everybody understood that decisions made were only based on reality – if people understood that the only consequences they would ever have to face were going to be realized during their life – if the whole concept of owning up to one’s life in an effort to get accepted into a magical wonderland after one dies was seen as the nonsense that it actually is? Anarchy, perhaps? But why is that?

I suppose it’s just human nature. I find it rather interesting that, as humans, we so easily will turn on our neighbors in an effort to better our own lives. It’s a bit selfish, don’t you think? Or is it more of a sign of our ignorance? We are the self-proclaimed “most intelligent creatures on our planet” but is that actually the case? I’m reminded of what Douglas Adam’s wrote as the first paragraph of chapter 23 in his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book:

It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much – the wheel, New York, wars and so on – whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man – for precisely the same reasons.

Interesting, huh? Suppose the dolphins are correct. Wouldn’t we actually be much better off if everyone could just get along and try to enjoy what little time we are given? I really do think so. Sure, we wouldn’t have all the technological advances that we currently have but would we really need them? After all, you really wouldn’t miss them if they never actually existed…

The funny thing about it is that we would still have the desire to create. We seem to be unable to live in a world without trying to improve it. The flip-side to this, of course, is that we would actually be unable to live in this world without our creations – we have (as has been postulated in many sci-fi stories) become slaves to our own creations. What would you do if you were unable to go to the grocery store to get food? Suppose the electricity was no longer conveniently supplied… The water, the gas… The saddest part about these speculations is that I know what would happen – people would start to turn on their neighbors. The whole idea of “dog eat dog” would ring truer than ever and only the strongest will survive. Intellect will mean very little and pure strength would be king.

Am I saying that we need to throw away technology and return to a simpler time? Hell no – it’s far too late for that… Throwing away the religions, however, might not be a bad idea. We’ve accomplished so much as a species yet we seem to be completely unable to let go of these archaic belief systems that have become absolute truths to so many people. Why, exactly, is that? I believe it’s because many of us need a reason to live and these religions appear to give just that. The fact that all of these religions were created by man in an effort to control man just doesn’t seem to be acceptable to many.

My proposal to everyone is that we let go of these religions. Face the fact that we’re only going to be here for a rather limited time and try our best to get along. Let’s take some advice from the dolphins and learn to just muck about in the water (and on land – there’s one advantage that we do have) having a good time.

bis später,

Coriolis