On Man and Reality
Part 6 - Intellectual Evolution

Man, Evolution’s Prodigy
The fossil record suggests that Man has been around for only a couple of hundred thousand years. That is a very short time in evolutionary terms. The thing that made him unique was that, from the outset, his brain was able to support intellectual thinking. As he learned to exploit this advantage, his intellect evolved rapidly, allowing him to multiply his unique powers.

About five thousand years ago, Dynasties began to evolve into civilisations. A civilisation is a form of organisation that improves Man’s ability to exploit his intellectual powers by improving his capacity to communicate, share knowledge, marshal cooperation and specialise. As civilisations evolved, advances in linguistic and mathematical skills improved human capacity to handle abstract and complex concepts. Writing provided means of storing, sharing and passing on knowledge and information. Forms of wealth multiplied and the invention of money facilitated trade and other types of human endeavour. Specialization became feasible enabling crafts and professions to evolve. Weapons, goods and services rapidly increased in variety and affordability.

An ever more sophisticated array of intellectual aids and tools enabled an increasingly comprehensive body of knowledge of Reality and of the laws by which it is governed, to be built up. Man thus was empowered to tackle ever more complex and rewarding creative challenges.

Over the last couple of centuries, through the wilful application of intellect and knowledge, Man has been able to create a world of his own choosing – one that lies beyond the wildest imaginings of his forebears. Locally, he has become a brand-new type of evolutionary force – one that differs fundamentally from the physical and life streams of evolution, which preceded it.

The advances wrought by the traditional streams of evolution depended on chains of random events, the outcome of which was determined solely by the immutable natural laws. The method produced similar results throughout the Universe and its evolutionary impact took vast stretches of time to materialise.

By contrast, the evolution affected by Man is locally focussed and wilfully driven to achieve specifically conceived and designed results at speeds, which are orders of magnitude greater than those possible to its mindless predecessors.

Because this locally focussed and wilfully-driven type of evolution proceeds extraordinarily fast, its impact can be dangerous. Fortunately, only the speck of the Universe, which Man occupies, is at risk from his endeavours.

Could Wilfully-Driven, Local Evolution be a Universal Phenomenon?
We have postulated that Reality is designed to lead to the evolution of Beings in its Creator’s image, the advanced phase of their evolution proceeding through the exercise of their talents in creating their own Mini-Reality and in coming to grips with the associated dilemmas. If that is its Designer’s purpose, then human history will be describing an advanced mini-segment of a long and tortuous evolutionary path, which is heading towards such an end.

Is earthly civilisation unique or is it one of a countless number?
Let us again consult our knowledge of the Universe. The Milky Way is one of several hundred billion galaxies. It is of average size and contains a hundred billion stars, more than half of which are of the young, population one variety, which is capable of hosting planetary life. Such statistics suggest that the number of stellar environments in the Universe that are capable of producing life-hosting planets is astronomical. If life evolution is not unique to Planet Earth (something that modern knowledge suggests is unlikely), even if civilisations similar to his are very rare, as appears likely, the chances are that the Universe contains billions of them.

Contact between Extra-Terrestrial Civilisations
Because of the billions of years that it has taken life-evolution to produce a creative civilisation here on Earth and because the likelihood is that a similar amount of time would be required to create one, elsewhere, civilisations can be expected to be rare – perhaps one per billion stars. They are likely, therefore, to be separated from each other by astronomical distances (The sun’s nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri, is three and a half light-years – forty trillion kilometres – distant).
Given that the Milky Way is one hundred thousand light-years in diameter, the nearest extra-terrestrial civilisation to our own easily could be a thousand light-years away. At such a distance, even if it could generate radio signals strong enough, they would take a thousand years to get here. Further, given the constraints that apply to all physical movement in the Universe, it is difficult to imagine how the citizens of such a civilisation could cross such a vast distance within a humanly meaningful period of time.

If an extra-terrestrial civilisation is close enough to Earth for a physical visit to be possible, the implication is that there are many more civilisations in the Universe that our reasoning suggests. However, in all probability, most extra-terrestrial civilisations will be evolving in isolation, separated from each other by physically unconquerable distances.

Could Humanity Self-destruct?
If the Universe contains billions of advanced civilisations, each one suffering growing pains similar to our own, then it is probable that a few will self-destruct. However, it is likely that evolution emplaces safeguards that make the total annihilation of a Civilised Race a rare event. If that is true, then dangerous human behaviour is unlikely to lead to extinction.
However, that does not mean that the present misuse of Man’s creative powers will not decimate major portions of the Human Race. History records that, when Nations favour the use of force to impose their will on others, it soon gets out of hand and major war ensues – no matter what the perceived military superiority of any one group.

Given that today’s world is awash with Nuclear ICBM’s, such a war would wipe out much of Humanity. However the ubiquitous nature of human settlement means that some would survive (the non-reversible destruction of aspects of the environment that are essential to life could be of more serious consequence).

History suggests that, when a major decimation of human life occurs, it traumatises immediate survivors. Given the universality of modern communications, in the aftermath of a nuclear war, all of the World’s surviving population would be traumatised. To a person, survivors would be constrained to abandon the self-centred world-view that led them to war, and to realise that a new vision of the road to human wellbeing must be collectively envisioned and embraced.

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One Man's View - Robin A McQueen