The pursuit of intelligence

[poisongirlxv]

For a species that embraces our intelligence and our altered consciousness, we have used it for a good while with little concern for human happiness, for a world of balance. Intelligence has become a gateway instead for distancing ourselves through ideologies, creating economic systems prizing material above human welfare, advancing technology that

Comments

[_siri]

Murdering our own species and other horrible things that we do to this world is something that is -part of- the human species. In nature animals eat eachother and they are agressive towards eachother, well: people also, only because we are "more intelligent" we think of some reasons to kill, so we can get loss of your aggression. We are not rational, but we do rationalize afterwards to feel ourselves comfortable living our own ideals

[root_fu]

If there's no purpose, there is no such thing as ideals?

[_siri]

If there's no purpose, for me that means that it opens up the possibilities for ideals. I understand why that sounds contradictional but for me it isn't a contradiction. Because there is not one purpose everyone makes their own ideals. I have got lots of ideals in my life on which I also think the society as a whole can benefit from. I know this is only because of the view of the world that I have. Another person, another view another ideal, another purpose. I don't see the purpose for the world as a whole. That gives me inspiration to look for it anyway in my own creative way.

[root_fu]

'Objective morality' again. What you mean by 'purpose' is, is there a single set of values which define ethics/morality in a way that is universal in an absolute sense.

morality

[_siri]

I also was thinking...

When I read your post it sounds like you think that intelligence and morality should be the same,

well there are much differences in forms of intelligents, for example the IQ and the "EQ" --> emotional intelligence.

For me intelligence is not being good; Hitler was a smartass but he was a horrible person, for me it's no problem to make a difference between being smart and being "good". It also should not be the same... if being smart and good becomes the same thing: think of the dangerous things that could happen... it's more something for hitler to say that intellgence and being good is the same thing brrrr

Re: morality

[root_fu]

Hitler didn't think he was a horrible person. He thought he was a good person. Intelligence is usually correlated with morality in this way.

Re: morality

[_siri]

I don't agree with that. I think that a person can have a very big IQ, for example can understand very complex things and also can be morally "poor". Hitler wouldn't not have achieved what he had achieved if he wasn't smart at all. You can not manipulate a complete species wihtout being a smart ass.

It's very naieve optimistic to think that intelligence is the same as morality.

Re: morality

[root_fu]

People do what they think is 'right'. It has nothing to do with intelligence. Osama Bin Laden doesn't see himself as a mass murderer. He sees himself as "fighting a holy war" or "fighting for the freedom of muslims" or something like that. Hitler is the same.

[frostwulf]

If you want to try and help people, try joining a humanitarian mission to the third world. Or volunteer at a local shelter or soup kitchen. There are people trying to help their fellow man, but the problem is huge and there are a LOT of people with differing opinions about how to solve our issues, and lots of them have merit. I enjoy philosophy and intellectual discussion a lot too, but all the talk in the world doesn't count for the experience of going out and putting your money where your mouth is and seeing the problem while trying to do something about it. I've found that very few philosophies or ideas to solve the ills of the world developed in a bubble survive real contact with the issue itself. The problem isn't that nobody wants to help, its that we haven't really figured out an entirely effective way to help, and all the extreme and revolutionary "social experiments" humans have tried to do so (communism, fascism, socialism, etc.) leave someone getting screwed, often violently. Utopia is an easy concept to learn, but

[poisongirlxv]

My post is less of a call for everyone to become some sort of humanitarian, and work towards Utopia, and more of me wondering what is becoming of our intellectual energy, and what exactly is it going into. I'm also pointing at this whole idea of intellect being used for the 'common good' since that is the myth and ideology that surrounds it. We have always spoken of intellect being used to develop and advance ourselves, but the question I provoke is: is that really what is happening here? Obviously not

[ellina_toxic]

I haven't had time to read all the comments...but anyway!
I enjoyed reading your thoughts about what it means to be intelligent... I think today intelligence is viewed as something solely related to the mind. People forget about their emotional intelligence. If they remembered we could possibly see more of the mentioned concern with helping ourselves and each other. But it is not something that is promoted, especially in America. Therefore, we end up where we are... Knowing technology is considered being smart today, caring about the world is presented as being hopeless.

[harehare]

well, i just think trying to call people for whatever reason is useless, because not everyone has the same passion as you do. The best you can do is giving out invitation to form a group of people that has the same idea like you.

Another thing that always works is power. You either be a Hitler or a Mahatma Gandhi. that's the only way to make people listen to you.

Don't worry too much about the world, though. although there are many people use intelligence to do bad, many use them to do good too.