Sapiens

How intelligent is humanity as a whole? What right have we to call ourselves homo sapiens sapiens? If the idea of the sapiens is wrapped up in reason, how developed is the innate human sense of reason and how widespread is its use? …

Now, if we try to answer these questions, the conclusions will probably be sadly pessimistic. But, what if, instead of trying to analyse what we are, we look at the idea of sapiens from the point of view of becoming?, i.e., sapiens is not what we are, but what we need to become. If we see humanity evolving towards our sapiens potential rather than being born with wisdom, we might get a clearer idea of what the homo sapiens really is, and what civilisation should be concerned with.

This idea may sound utopian or fantastical, to expect billions of human beings, most of them struggling for material happiness or simple survival, to suddenly decide that what is important is knowledge. But the fact that this is the case demonstrates how far humanity is from actually being what we claim to be – the fact that most humans have such little regard for wisdom and hold knowledge in such a relatively low esteem, demonstrates how far humanity is from actually being what we claim to be. The truth is, if some authoritarian body decided to take away our sapiens status most of us would probably not give a damn at all. They took away Pluto’s ranking as a planet, so why not declassify humanity?

If there is to be such a thing as human purpose, therefore, we might want to start with what we think that we should be but aren’t – we might start by trying to become a truly sapiens homo. From the point of view of becoming, intelligence is not just a tool that can be used in certain situations, it is a lifegoal. When you feel lost and life seems meaningless, just remind yourself of what you really are supposed to be – that you should be sapiens. Meditating on such an idea might well be enough to point you in the right direction towards an authentic purposefulness.