{"id":3695,"date":"2022-12-06T12:08:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T20:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/essays.rsree.com\/?p=3695"},"modified":"2022-12-06T12:08:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T20:08:47","slug":"a-defective-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/06\/a-defective-species\/","title":{"rendered":"A Defective Species"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough not to commit suicide. (Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992)”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lets face it: we can’t help ourselves, collectively, as a species. When I say “defective” I mean to say exactly that, in that we appear to be unable to do what should come naturally, easily and fruitfully should we apply ourselves to our vast potential as an intelligent, innovative and creative species with the realization that it is absolutely essential that we live and work together as one, in harmony with each other to the benefit of everyone without exception.<\/p>\n

Instead, we compete, we fight, we destroy – each other and the place that nurtures us – without regard for a future\u00a0 that we must necessarily share together.\u00a0 But no one should be that shortsighted, that thoughtless, that self-destructive,\u00a0 or, simply put:\u00a0 that stupid!<\/p>\n

And have we not all been hewn from the same piece of rock \u2013 this planet, this earth, so why are we fighting each other? When we fight each other, we are fighting ourselves. What is the origin of the conflicts within us?<\/p>\n

It seems such a simple choice to make, doesn\u2019t it:\u00a0 working out differences through negotiating solutions peacefully, with the understanding that these must always a matter of give and take. This as oppose to getting your way to the detriment of others, even going as far as the wholesale slaughter of those who are absolutely helpless to do anything about it. History shows that time and time again we haven\u2019t been able to make the right choice in such matters.<\/p>\n

And so here we are, seemingly helpless\u00a0 to get our act together.\u00a0\u00a0 No, God won’t help us all; no figment of our imagination can be conjured up to protect us from ourselves. In the end, we are the only ones that can\u00a0 help ourselves.\u00a0 But the whole of our history tells it all, and sadly the conclusion has to be: we are a defective species, akin to a rudderless ship about to wreck itself on the shores of ignorance, arrogance and self-deception.<\/p>\n

I can’t imagine that this is what the cosmos had in mind when it brought us about, and my guess is that it will likely do away with us – or, more likely, allow us to do away with ourselves – before giving it another try:\u00a0 to evolve a creature worthy and able\u00a0 to\u00a0 make use of the incredible creative powers that have been instantiated by it to achieve its raison d’etre<\/em>, whatever that might be.\u00a0 All I know\u00a0 is that we are definitely not that creature.<\/p>\n

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“I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[478,479],"tags":[6,418],"class_list":["post-3695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people-politics-culture","category-philosophy-science-religion","tag-a-defective-species","tag-the-human-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essays.rsree.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}