Humankind is not the culmination of evolution.
We are but one amongst millions of species that inhabit the Earth today,
each of which is exquisitely adapted to its niche.
We are not the most numerous species.
We are not the largest.
We are not the strongest or fastest.
We are not the longest lived.
We are not the most resilient.
What, if anything, distinguishes us from other life on this planet?
Arguably, the thing that makes us unique is our complexity
But not complexity in some generic sense - nature is rife with complexity
The thing that makes us special is the complexity of our brains.
We are the heirs to an ancient legacy, starting with simple organisms that
dedicated specialized cells to controlling their
movements and actions.
We belong to a family that contains a bewildering array of members
united by physiology that allows us to react to our environments more
effectively.
Adapting.
Shaping our environment.
Transcending the passage of time and generations.
Passing on culture.
To the extent that we're special, our exceptionalism is borne of the
relentless drive toward greater complexity in our nervous systems.
Indeed, we more than any species extend beyond the bounds of our
individual selves, forming communities.
Cities.
Civilizations.
Spreading across the globe... and even beyond it.
And the complexity of our brains is responsible for every edifice of our
civilization
every work of art
every piece of music
our institutions of higher learning
All of these expressions of our humanity, begun as a flutters of
electrical and chemical activity in a collection of neurons in our brains
and bodies.
And the same complexity that gives us the greatness of humanity, also gives
us our worst impulses.
Today, near the dawn of the 21st century, the exponential nature of the
progress of our Complex Species is plainly evident
and we stand at the precipice of creating entities of comparable
complexity to our own.
To the extent that our fate hangs in the balance,
it will be our complexity, our brains that either save us, or seal our fate.
To understand that legacy, and to understand this complexity, is to
understand who we are.
And yet one of our greatest strengths is that we,
amongst the millions of species on this planet,
possess the potential to understand ourselves.