thoughts from a brokenSoldier

     I was looking through some sites for the purpose of finding information on religion and insightful quotations about it when I came across this one that contained a quote from Albert Einstein that set the imaginative part of my brain ablaze:

"Nobody, certainly, will deny that the idea of the existence of an omnipotent, just, and omnibeneficient personal God is able to accord man solace, help, and guidance; also, by virtue of its simplicity it is accessible to the most undeveloped mind."

     - Albert Einstein, In Science and Religion, (1941) 

(Bold mine for emphasis)

     This started within me a train of thought that led me to wonder about the nature of our species, specifically concerning our tendencies in handling those that we perceive to be outside or beneath our sphere of being.  When Einstein uttered the phrase "undeveloped minds," he was obviously referring to the minds of those humans not yet comparable - in our xenophobic and self-centered sense of the terms advancement and civilization - to those of the more advanced, civilized humans of the world.  But it isn’t hard to see that religion, in its inherent conceptual simplicity, would likely be the first offering - besides aggression - we extend to any species that comes along in their evolutionary process to the point of reaching the levels in both intellectual complexity and social interaction that set our kind on the path to the sort of civilization we enjoy today.  This journey, for all we know due to our limited ability to interact with species not our own, could very well have already begun.

     The question, should such a thing come to pass, then becomes one of collective introspection.  How will we handle any other species that emerge on this planet with the kind of intellectual, communicative, and social complexity and interaction on which we have had a monopoly for so long?  Will we become moral and kind stewards for these conscious beings of such emergent intelligence and communicative development, or will we become domineering masters of these creatures?  The question is one that will be central to our own image of ourselves as a species.  Many a science fiction work has been penned that populates its plot with alien races deemed to be evil because they treat others in this controlling, disdainful manner, while portraying humans as a moral force in the universe.  Unfortunately, if our track record with those races we have previously viewed as inferior is any indication, such portrayal is - at best - wishful thinking, indeed.

     If we take the former course and treat these new beings with respect and care, then we could possibly reap untold benefits in numerous endeavors, because we’d have a species of beings that would possibly stand with us and support us in such things as exploration of space and advancement of global freedom (depending, of course, on the inherent nature of whatever species it will be). But if we take the latter, we assure ourselves of one of two outcomes, both of which are interminably bleak.  Either we will have to deal with innumerable conflicts and fights to keep such creatures in their "place," or we face the very dark prospect of extinguishing the only other species on our planet to ever rise above their environment to take control of their own collective destiny.  As an individual human, I am not prepared to saddle myself with such a deplorable action, but sadly I do not have the amount of confidence in our species as a whole to harbor such moral inhibitions.  And that, in and of itself, is a less than promising indication - for I am sure my sentiments are not singular to me - that we are more likely to take the more sinister and self-serving path of the two.

     My best guess is that we will hold true to the nature we have shown so faithfully thus far;  there will be a contingent of us that demands respect and consideration for such beings, while the great majority of our species will be averse to the concept of including anyone or anything else as equals in our little corner of the universe.  So what about it?  What do you think we - as a species - will eventually do should this circumstance come to pass?  I’m wondering if there are any of you out there that hold a positive view of our species in this respect, concerning the injustices we have visited upon those less fortunate in the process of development than those that have come to dominate this world.  Maybe, just maybe, humanity will surprise us, should this ever come to pass.  For the sake of our descendants, I certainly hope so.

     I’ll leave you with a paraphrase (I can’t remember the exact words) of the final line from the book Next by Michael Crichton that frames this entire question.  At the end of the work, a man is walking with a chimpanzee that has been transgenically bred, and can talk and understand verbal interaction almost as well as a small child.  He is walking along, holding the hand of this remarkable creature, when another man comes up to him and utters a question that chilled me to the core in terms of my optimism on this very subject.  

     Showing the worst parts of our nature and tendencies, he asked the man with the chimpanzee, in all seriousness, if he could "get one of those" so he could use "it" to work his farm.  If we continue in these solipsist - and frankly, arrogant - ways, then we are doomed to repeat our history of conflict and disregard for all those that are not considered to be "us."  If not, we have a very real chance of being the species that began the explosion of life that might one day spread across this corner of space to prosper and endure.  To me, the former is unacceptable, and the latter is simply irresistibly enticing.