Is man the wisest species on earth?

[blazeofglory]

I do not know and it does not bear relevance to ask something about life in other planets. We have no empirical truths about the existence of life in other planets. We have so many conjectures based on hypotheses but not on empirical evidence about the existence of life in other planets. If there is life there can be more intelligent people somewhere or inferior.

Let us not muddle ourselves with this unessential stuff.

But that are there wiser creatures on this earth than human beings can be a very interesting question.

Here wisdom does not imply man's singular capacity for inventing scientific things and for making life more convenient in point of fact.

Here wisdom has more to do with living wisely. Living wisely means to take care of the community one is in, to live in togetherness and harmony.

Man is a degenerating species and man's degeneration is on the rise. Man invents self-destroying arsenals. Man has invented nuclear bombs. A few man particularly in developed countries out of their abysmal greed have destroyed natural environments. The planet is a worse place to live in today than it was a few hundreds years ago.

There is sharp competition among animals also. Animals too struggle for existence and the mighty have dominance over the weaker.

But man's malevolent proclivities are much higher.

Man has a class distinction and lives with so many complexes. There are superiority and inferior complexes. Man is a great predator.

At times I feel other animals are more sensitive to their races than humans. For example, dear move in a herd and we know bees work together. In their communities one creature does not kill another. It seems to me animals kingdoms are more balanced than humankind.

[MarkBastable]

I don't think you can have wisdom without choice. The exercise of wisdom is demonstrated in the making of choices.

As not a single bee in the history of the planet has ever chosen to give up life in the hive to become a corporate accountant, as not a single deer has ever flipped the herd the finger and gone to the big city to open a delicatessen, I suspect that such choices are not open to animals. I mean, you'd think, wouldn't you, that if animals could make choices, just one smart but treacherous deer, at some point, would have decided to side with the lions? But no - it appears that animals are rarely bothered with having to think these things through, nor are they moved to apply any kind of wisdom to the choices that arise from that consideration.

No choice - no wisdom.

So - facetious though my reply may appear - my point is serious. I can't see that the terms of the question make sense.

I do not know and it does not bear relevance to ask something about life in other planets. We have no empirical truths about the existence of life in other planets. We have so many conjectures based on hypotheses but not on empirical evidence about the existence of life in other planets. If there is life there can be more intelligent people somewhere or inferior.

Let us not muddle ourselves with this unessential stuff.

But that are there wiser creatures on this earth than human beings can be a very interesting question.

Here wisdom does not imply man's singular capacity for inventing scientific things and for making life more convenient in point of fact.

Here wisdom has more to do with living wisely. Living wisely means to take care of the community one is in, to live in togetherness and harmony.

Man is a degenerating species and man's degeneration is on the rise. Man invents self-destroying arsenals. Man has invented nuclear bombs. A few man particularly in developed countries out of their abysmal greed have destroyed natural environments. The planet is a worse place to live in today than it was a few hundreds years ago.

There is sharp competition among animals also. Animals too struggle for existence and the mighty have dominance over the weaker.

But man's malevolent proclivities are much higher.

Man has a class distinction and lives with so many complexes. There are superiority and inferior complexes. Man is a great predator.

At times I feel other animals are more sensitive to their races than humans. For example, dear move in a herd and we know bees work together. In their communities one creature does not kill another. It seems to me animals kingdoms are more balanced than humankind.

[Michael T]

I don't think you can have wisdom without choice. The exercise of wisdom is demonstrated in the making of choices.

As not a single bee in the history of the planet has ever chosen to give up life in the hive to become a corporate accountant, as not a single deer has ever flipped the herd the finger and gone to the big city to open a delicatessen, I suspect that such choices are not open to animals. I mean, you'd think, wouldn't you, that if animals could make choices, just one smart but treacherous deer, at some point, would have decided to side with the lions? But no - it appears that animals are rarely bothered with having to think these things through, nor are they moved to apply any kind of wisdom to the choices that arise from that consideration.

No choice - no wisdom.



So - facetious though my reply may appear - my point is serious. I can't see that the terms of the question make sense.

Correct
Wisdom is the ability to make the right choices through the accumulation of knowledge and gaining the ability to use that knowledge correctly or wisely. Something that really only appertains to human self-awareness.

[Mr Endon]

Mark, I agree 100%.

But now that you've brought it up, I'd like to question the human beings' claim to uniqueness in terms of wisdom and choice. Three years ago I read a fascinating article on some primates' systems of communication (I'm sorry, I forget if they were apes or monkeys or what, so I'll just call them apes). It said that apes have different calls of distress, one is a warning against flying predators which causes the apes to look up, another is against land predators which causes the apes to run up trees, etc. It was observed that they would use a call apparently deceptively. As they know the effect that, say, a land predator warning has, they sometimes resort to it without there actually being that specific danger, but with the effect of the call in mind.

Long story short, these apes apparently can lie.
Not quite as elaborately as a 7-year-old, of course.

But still, this implies that these primates can choose. Wouldn't this be wisdom in the sense discussed here?

--
EDIT: looked this up and found this in an anthropology quiz:

6. Can primates lie to each other?

Yes correct answer
No

Studies have shown that primates have a “theory of mind,” that is, they seem to know what the others know and are able to use this knowledge to deceive and manipulate. This is often referred to as Machiavellian intelligence. (Units 7 and 8)

Probablt not the most trustworthy of sources but indulge me

[TurquoiseSunset]

No, I don't think we're the wisest, but we most certainly have the potential to be.

By the way, I believe animals have choices, 'simple' choices, but choices none the less. I think they live the way they do because it's the best way for them...if that makes sense. For the same reason a bubble is round, I guess (I'm channeling K-Pax here, hehe ).

[Buh4Bee]

I think my dog is a 100 times smarter than I am. He never argues with anyone, smiles, and knows when to go to sleep. I on the other hand, can't figure out when to make such good decisions.

[kristian]

Does electicfans more efficient than lightbulbs?

[Babelfish]

I agree with Mark that freedom of choice is necessary for wisdom (or the possibility of it anyway) to exist; and yet, as to the question of whether man as a species is the wisest - that is a question I've often asked myself as well. We (as human beings) certainly do not conduct a life-style that is in any way sustainable, one that is in accordance with the rest of the natural world, ethical on any strong moral ground, or even one that is the best way for human beings to live. However, because we have the freedom of choice, as well as the ability to observe the rest of the natural world, the manner in which other species live, and the ways in which our distant ancestors lived, we can choose to adapt these practices and correct the errors that we have made - and for that reason, I do think that humans have, at the very least, the potential to be the wisest species on earth - even if they are not (as a whole) at the present.

But try not to worry about it too much. So long as discussions like these are still going on and those that are having them are at least making the attempt to live more simply and sustainably there is yet hope for mankind.

"All of the animals, except for man, know that the principal business of life is simply to enjoy it."

- unknown

[NikolaiI]

As I have been quoting this text a lot lately, The Joyous Cosmology, by Alan Watts.. one passage comes to mind. Somewhat related. And there is more to the thought before and after in the paragraph, but it stands on its own reasonably.

"To the extent, then, that man has become a being centered in consciousness, he has become centered in clash, conflict, and discord. He ignores, as beneath notice, the astounding perfection of his organism as a whole, and this is why, in most people, there is such a deplorable disparity between the intelligent and marvelous order of their bodies and the trivial preoccupations of their consciousness."

[Beautifull]

man amd woman or just man?

[FanofdeBeauvoir]

Well, we are Homo sapiens sapiens after all, which equals to say that in our opinion or by our terms, we're very smart.

[Red-Headed]

I do not know and it does not bear relevance to ask something about life in other planets. We have no empirical truths about the existence of life in other planets. We have so many conjectures based on hypotheses but not on empirical evidence about the existence of life in other planets. If there is life there can be more intelligent people somewhere or inferior.

Although there is no evidence for extraterrestrial life, primitive, sentient or intelligent, statistically it would be strange if we were the only advanced life in the entire cosmos. Strange but not impossible, just very very unlikely.

But that are there wiser creatures on this earth than human beings can be a very interesting question.

Such as?

Here wisdom has more to do with living wisely. Living wisely means to take care of the community one is in, to live in togetherness and harmony.

Animals live in a Darwinian world of bio-survivability & adaptation of the fittest. Wisdom has little to do with it.

Man is a degenerating species and man's degeneration is on the rise. Man invents self-destroying arsenals. Man has invented nuclear bombs. A few man particularly in developed countries out of their abysmal greed have destroyed natural environments.

I think that if we can overcome greed & vote decent governments into power we can seriously alter environmental damage for the better. We have to be quite determined about this, but it could be achieved. Nuclear power (Fusion) could solve many of the world's energy problems.

The planet is a worse place to live in today than it was a few hundreds years ago.

Unlikely.

(I mean be a tad more specific, you mean before antibiotics, penicillin & modern medicine as a whole was invented etc? Or just the time when hundreds of thousands of people were being burnt as heretics &/or witches by organised religion? Or just the time when 1 in 3 children or their mothers died in childbirth? Or perhaps those halcyon days of the Black Death?)

There is sharp competition among animals also. Animals too struggle for existence and the mighty have dominance over the weaker.

Yes.

But man's malevolent proclivities are much higher.

Not really. We are just a clever animal. We are no different. Our problem started when we became civilised & lived in towns & cities. This is an unnatural environment for a nomadic hunter-gatherer. Animals in captivity often seem to become as deranged & violent to their fellow animals as humans are capable of becoming to their own species.

Man has a class distinction and lives with so many complexes. There are superiority and inferior complexes. Man is a great predator.

In fact, we are the alpha predator.

At times I feel other animals are more sensitive to their races than humans. For example, dear move in a herd and we know bees work together. In their communities one creature does not kill another. It seems to me animals kingdoms are more balanced than humankind.

Bees can be aggressive & violent to each other when they compete for resources, as can other social insects such as ants. Deer only move in herds as a protection from predators. It is totally instinctive. I live in the country & believe me, rutting stags can be as violent as any teenage delinquent!

I am not totally sure what your argument is, it seems to lack a certain cogency, but in answer to your original question: 'Is Man the wisest species on Earth?' The answer unequivocally is yes!

[Babyguile]

To say non-human animals are wise is foolish, and you are anthropomorphising.

Of course we are wise. Only ourselves posses wisdom to such a level that we can analyse our situations and make compromises and forsee consequences of our actions.

Yet again we prove that 90% of our philosophical musings involves asking stupid questions, akin to 'what is the purpose of a mountain?'