The Day the Earth Stood Nil – by Rand Clifford

By Rand Clifford | Dandelion Salad

Could human intelligence be a lethal mutation? Catastrophes spawned by Earth’s most intelligent species suggest not only self-extinction, but annihilation of countless other species. Is the apparent disconnect between cleverness and wisdom primarily a human characteristic, and if so, what are the chances of human wisdom catching up with human cleverness?

Noam Chomsky gave a speech about human intelligence and the environment at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on September 30, 2010. With typical Chomsky eloquence he explored this question of lethality of the mutation of intelligence…referring to a debate between astrophysicist Carl Sagan and biologist Ernst Mayr regarding the possibility of discovering intelligent life somewhere else in the universe.

Who could not love Carl Sagan, the man who gave the term “billions” a personality? Ernst Mayr was widely considered “the grand old man of American biology”. Debating with Mayr, Sagan talked about “billions and billions” of other planets sharing Earth’s general profile, and there being no reason for intelligent life not to develop elsewhere. Mayr noted that of the billions of species that have existed on Earth, the average life span is about 100,000 years—nearly how long modern humans have been around. And Mayr basically argued that intelligence is a lethal mutation. Reinforcement of Mayr’s argument lurks all around, even inside of us.

Considering trajectory of the US, Earth’s currently most…shall we say, influential nation, humanity’s chances of surviving the disconnect between cleverness and wisdom seem less than favorable.

Albert Einstein…has anyone ever possessed a more exquisite grasp of reality? Not long after the US unleashed upon the world the power of the atom, Einstein warned us that humanity had only two choices: Abandon ALL forms of nuclear energy, or face extinction.

And now, of the various nails in humanity’s coffin, Fukushima has every potential to sink the deepest. Why else would there be such massive and elaborate suppression of Fukushima information?

Read full article at: Dandelion Salad

Rand Clifford’s novels Castling, Timing, Priest Lake Cathedral, and Voices of Vires are published by StarChief Press, and will all be available soon as e-books.

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