If you were asked “Is there intelligent life?” you would probably assume that the question refers to life somewhere else in the universe. Are we alone, or are there others out there? As you may know, there is a project looking for intelligent life. It is called SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. It has been looking since 1961, but without success. Perhaps it is looking for the wrong things in the wrong ways. In any event, would we recognise other kinds of intelligence if we encountered them, particularly if they were much higher than ours? It is a good question. Are we looking for intelligent life in the fullest sense, or are we just looking for people on more or less the same level as us? There could be a world of difference between the two. Given the state of the world today, perhaps we should be asking a different question. Perhaps we should be asking whether there is intelligent life on our own planet. We take it for granted that there is, and we assume that we are the most intelligent species, at the top of the evolutionary tree. But are we as intelligent as we think we are?
Yes, it is true that we have languages and literature, and great paintings and music. We have science and technology, and some great cities. And we have great institutions, such as democracy, some fine universities, and free healthcare for all in the more advanced countries. And yet we are the most dangerous, destructive species on this planet. In the 20th Century alone, we killed more than 150 million of our own kind, in wars, gulags, political murders, and the mass famines caused directly by political action. It is estimated that as much as 50 million people died in the famines in China in the years 1959–1961, as a direct result of Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”. It is sometimes called the Great Holocaust. As if this were not enough, we are the only species that concentrates so much of our wealth in the hands of a tiny number of people, while so many of us do not even have the basics to live a decent, dignified life. As for the biosphere and this planet, they are staggering under the impact of our presence. Quite apart from the clear and present danger of global warming, all the planet’s life-support systems are in serious decline. Can we honestly claim that all this is the behaviour of a truly intelligent species? As we think about this, it is well worth looking at the behaviour of other inhabitants of this world.
We admire tigers and wolves and falcons and dolphins, and many other creatures. They are often graceful and elegant. They are “natural”, and we know what we mean by this, even if we cannot define it exactly. They are able to survive in difficult situations, without any of the comforts and supports that we take for granted. They are invariably ecological, living in balance with each other and the planet. Apart from the relatively few who are injured, or very old, or suffering from lack of food, they are all in perfect health. And within the limitations of who they are, they behave intelligently. All this is obvious when we observe them. It is surely significant that, when we speak of “tiger nature” or “dolphin nature”, or about the nature of any other creature, we have something admirable in mind, a kind of perfection.
In contrast, when we speak about “human nature”, we seem to have imperfection in mind. We believe that it is human nature to be flawed, to make mistakes, to behave less than perfectly. How different it is for all other creatures! If they were flawed, if they made mistakes on the scale that we do, if they behaved as imperfectly as we do, they would soon be in serious trouble. If large numbers of them were not in perfect health, and did not act intelligently and ecologically, they would soon cease to exist. Why, then, do we make ourselves the sole exceptions? Why are so many of us not in perfect health? How many of us can truly say that we are in good shape, fit, and free from any physical, mental or emotional health problems? Why is truly wise, intelligent behaviour the exception for us, and not the rule? And why do so few of us live ecologically, in harmony with each other and the planet?
I will stop here, and leave you with these questions. In my next piece, I will tell what I think “intelligence” is, and how we can start to move towards being the truly intelligent species that we are clearly capable of being.
