“Your life has a limit but knowledge has none. If you use what is limited to pursue what has no limit, you will be in danger.”
~Chuang Tzu, The Secret of Caring for Life
The words of ancient Eastern philosophers echo through the ages and teach us to “go by what is constant” and “go along with the natural makeup” (Chuang Tzu). Instead, we have chosen another path – one that leads to a dark and cold future, wrapped in metal coating and not a touch of green. By trying to prove we are the conscious nervous system of our planet, we have tried to distance ourselves from our African roots and from our primal forefathers that have inhabited the jungle (oh, what a disgrace to us!). We have tried to prove we are not governed by primitive drives. We have done this and it is all good. Along the way, however, we made one crucial mistake – we parted from our instincts as well.
Preserving our instincts could make us hold on to the simple things in life and develop skills that enrich our lives and the world around us. Instead, we have let go of our human instincts and have become completely lost in the abstract ether of infinite knowledge. There is only so much a mind can comprehend in a lifetime, but we crave for more. It is no surprise, then, when a scientist makes a catastrophic invention. A scientist fixated on mastering the unknown, who has lost touch with his human instincts, is the father of the atom bomb. A scientist who tries to change the natural way of things and assume the role of an all mighty creator, like in Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, becomes the father of a monstrous creature. Knowledge is powerful and it could only be tamed, and guided in the right direction by modesty and morality. Without the moral compass guiding our pursuit of knowledge, we lose direction. Knowledge becomes the purpose itself and we fail to think about its consequences. Instead of creators of life, which we initially intended to be, we become the reason for destruction and desolation. Some knowledge we might not be ready to realize. A five-year old child does not possess the cognitive, moral and social development that is expected in high school. Similarly, we have to be able to understand our own limitation and stay away from fields we are not ready to take on. The ultimate knowledge, again, is to ‘know thyself’. “If you fully explore your mind, you will know your nature. If you know your nature, you know Heaven” (Mencius, All Things are Prepared Within Me).
We are now so separated from the natural world, that Daniel Dennett in “Freedom Evolves” almost ironically describes human beings as mechanical structures: “What you are is an assemblage of roughly a hundred trillion cells, of thousands of different sorts… Each trillion robot team is gathered together in a breathtakingly efficient regime that has no dictator but manages to keep itself organized to repel outsiders, banish the weak, enforce iron rules of discipline – and serve as the headquarters of one conscious self, one mind.” There is incredible wisdom in these words and unfortunately we fail to understand it. We are incredibly efficient and smart! As a natural creature, born from this earth, we are exceptionally gifted, intelligent and capable. Just considering how flawlessly and efficiently our Autonomic Nervous System works shows we are efficient. Our heart beats constantly, our lungs contract, out pupils dilate, hormones and neurotransmitters are constantly on the run – all of this without our slightest deliberation. Being the self-centered species that we are, we still fail to appreciate our uniqueness has evolved in us through nature, but we refuse to grant it more respect. Almost as an insecure person trying to fight an inferiority complex, we strive to be more efficient, more knowledgeable and capable.
People assumed the role of decision-makers on the planet. Did we think the laws that ruled the Earth and evolution thus far were not worthy anymore? Did we believe we could do a better job? Before we knew it, scientists started writing books about the “Sixth Extinction” and the “World Without Us.” For the most part, people are so incredibly busy trying to grasp the enormous body of knowledge, that most people do not take the time to ponder: “Now what will we do with our knowledge?” (Daniel Dennett). Sadly, just because we are the decision-makers this does not imply we make the right decisions. People have found the way to satisfy intellectual curiosity through the pursuit of scientific knowledge. Arguably, after the scientific method, science is to many what religion is to others – a source of truth – a worshiping altar of the “commitment to reason and evidence” (Daniel Dennett). Overwhelmed by this reason and evidence, moving from a hypothesis to a theory, always proving something, scientists might lose the connection with the purpose of their efforts and the betterment of human kind. Of course, this is only made easier because, overall, we have already lost our instinctual relation with nature.
Beware the information and knowledge pollution! Rediscover your natural instincts!