The emergence of the first DNA strand could cause immense consequences and it is considered as the basic foundation life. Although many people would consider that life is a good thing, it is actually an unnecessary part of the universe and we are the products of chaotic disorders. In any case, life continues to evolve beyond the simplest multi-cell organisms. In fact, intelligence is needed to help up define the universe, life and intelligence itself. Intelligence allows us to evaluate and appreciate things around us. Although we still can’t model the intelligence with sufficient detail, self-awareness is one major milestone in the development of life.
Evolution has spawned many millions species, but at least on the Earth, only once has the ability to discuss about intelligence itself. The Big Bang occurred about 13 billion years ago and DNA first arose on Earth about 3 billion years ago. So, it is clear that it takes plenty of time before the sign of human culture emerged. First hint of intelligence could be something that moves slightly beyond the normal instinct. Early human may started to learn from the surrounding and start to have an understanding about the nature. We could come up with dozens of definition related to intelligence and there could be dozen other shades of meanings.
The first question would be why there is an intelligence and this could imply an event that disrupt the fabric of animal instincts. Instincts are highly predictable, but the emergence of intelligence may make things become much less predictable and disordered. Unlike animals, human could react to specific impulses differently due to the effects of intelligence. As an example, screwdriver is not only used to tighten or loosen a screw, but can also be used to make holes on oil cans. Creativity and the ability to perform things differently can only be attributed to intelligence.
The questions of why is there hate, discord and crime; can also be attributed to our intelligence. Our quest of exploring the very meaning of intelligence can be long and arduous. The utilitarian and functional definitions of intelligence could fulfil the goals of making us better understand ourselves. Human isn’t robot and they don’t lack the will and consciousness. Although it can be argue that people still have the underlying animal instincts, they are still capable of performing functional improvement that contribute to the creation of culture.
If intelligence is one of important milestones in the development of life, we may start to think that perhaps life will evolve into something that’s more complex and sophisticated. It would be mindboggling to think that there’s probably a time when intelligence is considered as outdated and it will be superseded by something better. Although intelligence may not entirely disappear in these future beings, it will take a step back and become much less visible, just the way we are prioritizing intelligence and suppressing our animal instincts if they don’t comply with current social values.
