Let me pose a question or three. Will human beings ever be capable of making truly wise choices? Is it possible that our species is really not as mentally developed as we would like to believe? Might our problem stem from something more subtle than simply not having enough intelligence?
Intelligence, coupled with creativity, is good for efficient decision making in circumscribed domains, and particularly in 'technical' domains. Antonio Damasio showed us that intelligence is often modulated by affect (emotions, moods, and feelings) to solve inherently emotional domains. But it takes judgment - cognitive guidance of intelligence - to modulate intelligence with experience. Wisdom comes from judgments based on a rich life experience base and clear resolutions of goodness and badness of those experiences. An individual who has learned reality from both mistakes and successes is more likely to make wise judgments.
What if humans are inherently incapable of making good judgments on complex modern social issues because the brain structures needed for this are not as well developed as is needed to deal with our current world?
There is growing evidence that judgment about complex social decisions is managed by areas in the pre-frontal cortex, the area of the brain most recently evolved to its current size and makeup. Might it be the case that this area, in its newness, so to speak, is underdeveloped evolutionarily relative to the kinds of decisions required in our modern world? Have we reached our judgmental level of incompetence?
And what would the behaviors of the general populace look like, faced with the complexities and threats in the modern world, if they cannot rely on wisdom, within themselves or others? I suspect it would look like reliance on faith, ideology, arm waving about hope, willful ignorance, and ending with rationalization to protect one's sense of security in those.
Perhaps the solution is Human 2.0?
Comments