Utopia: An
Unintelligent Expectation
From the
dawn of mankind, one thing has separated us from being just another species of animals,
our intelligence. Our intelligence as a
species has allowed us to progress much more quickly and efficiently than any
other species has ever done. We are able
to complete tasks that require extreme amounts of strength by simply thinking
our way around the obstacles. There is
no question that intelligence is in fact the greatest attribute of the human
race. However, in some cases
intelligence has become such a powerful asset that it has actually hindered our
ability to live harmoniously and progress as a species.
When any
other species of animals on the earth is evaluated, it is interesting to note
that most of their conflicts revolve mostly around personal disputes of
territory, and hardly ever spread over large groups. However, in the human race, most conflicts
take place on a global scale, and unfortunately this means that the resulting
damage from these conflicts can be catastrophic. The interesting tendency of humans to group
together and seek support from other large groups fundamentally can be traced
back to their intelligence. As creatures
of high intelligence, we are able to communicate well with one another, causing
us to associate with people of similar beliefs and tendencies. These large groups often feel the obligation
to assert their “right-ness” or spread their beliefs upon other groups. This tendency to assert beliefs upon others,
as seen throughout history, in many cases leads to catastrophic conflicts blown
far out of proportion. In many cases wars have been fought over simple
differences in beliefs, leading to the loss of thousands of lives which brings
to question: is it really worth it? The resounding
answer is no.
It can thus be concluded that
indirectly, it is our intelligence that prevents us from harmonizing with one
another. In species of lower
intelligence, animals often are content living undisturbed by others and simply
living to survive. As humans, we are not
content with simply living like animals.
We do not want to only live to procreate and consume, we want to find
meaning in life. As intellectual beings we
assign and search for meaning in all things in life. Unfortunately, the result of our constant
search for meaning is that we lose sight of reality. It could be argued that as a species we have
become detached from reality and that we live in a world of ideas. As we noted before it is these very ideas
that prevent us from living harmoniously, and creating a Utopia.
While it is definite that it is our
inherent intellectuality that prevents us from creating a Utopia, one must
weigh the positives and negatives of our powerful gift. In my opinion, the benefits of our supreme intellectual
prowess far outweigh the disadvantages. Our
ability to reason have helped us overcome countless obstacles and thus become
unquestionable the most powerful species on earth. Our powerful minds have helped us eradicate diseases,
elongate human life, as well as raise the standard of living for all humans
across the world. I believe that if the
inability to live in a Utopia is the price we pay for our intellectuality, then
it is worth it.
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