intelligence is not a gift to me

[ILOVEAUTUMNS]

I often thought growing up if i were god there wouldn't be this state of human suffering

intelligence has made humans the greatest sufferers on the face of the planet and possibly the universe

to me intelligence is not a gift and i think the ultimate god(dess) is also miserable with such advanced intelligence

to realize one's fate... death... to remember bad things that happen... to miss loved ones... no other creature on this planet is tortured as humans are by such plight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyone else agree?

ok I rethought about this and I guess a higher collective consciousness of good and pure goodness would equal an increased pleasure of being aware of its existence and to advance ones life and society
but with the state of wars and organized religions it's hard to see how our intelligence is doing anything beneficial to life (our own and the poor animals on this planet that are part of mother earth that are shown little respect)

[Toby Stimpson]

Well I would disgareew with you...there is only wars and conflict when less intelligent people jump to conclusions and use their physical might and not their intellectual might. As a species our intelligene is the greatest gift we have, otherwise we may be just running around like monkeys in the wilderness.

[Infinite Grey]

Intellect is the second greatest gift granted to humanity, the primary being freewill. Even if were didn't have our intelligence, we'd still be killing each other, nature is not a gentle as people would like to think. Humans are not the only animal that kills when it isn't hungry, dogs, lions, tigers and bears, oh my. It's common misconception that Humans are the only murderers in nature... we're just the best at it.

Intelligence is a tool, used for good and evil. Memories and hurt can be forgotten in a matter of will, we adapt, we survive. GO HUMANS!

[cheddarsox]

Essentially your ephiphany echoes the story of Genesis. People were blissfully happy and ignorant, but they "chose" a level of consciousness that brought much suffering or at least a cognizance of suffering.

In a sense they did "die" when they ate the fruit of the tree, they "died" to their old blissful selves and became, "like gods" in awareness and a sense of RESPONSIBILITY.

There are many stories and myths in different cultures that address this conundrum of humanity.

Personally, it smacks me upside the head everytime I see my dog sleeping blissfully in the sun, never worrying about where his next meal is coming from or whether he'll have enough $ squirreled away for retirement.

Or...if you prefer mythology...Spiderman's uncle said to him "Peter, with great power comes great responsibility."

blessings,
cheddar

[Athena-Nadine]

Sure, we suffer more acutely than the rest of the animals, but we also love more deeply and feel joy far more profoundly. The ultimate lesson Pandora learned in opening the box was Hope. Personally, I wouldn't sacrifice my ability to feel immense happiness in order to not feel pain and suffering any longer.

[Cassie]

to realize one's fate... death... to remember bad things that happen... to miss loved ones... no other creature on this planet is tortured as humans are by such plight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyone else agree?


"To realise ones own fate...death"
Yes, that can sometimes be a scary thought, but it does sort of put this life into perspective and reminds us to live as fully as possible. Moreover death is not always bad. Sometimes it is a blessing. As for what comes after death, that is a matter of faith not intellegence.

"To remember bad things that happen" This gives the possibility to learn from our mistakes. To grow. I would say it is essential.
But we also remember the good things and this brings joy to life. And yes, there are also sad things in our memories, but these also help us to grow and form a part of what makes each of us unique.

"To miss loved ones" This keeps them alive in our hearts. Although it may sometimes be painful I would never ever like to loose the memories of those I have loved and lost, or those I love but live far away from me. Missing them only makes my love grow.

Intellegence allows me to read the things on this page. Intellegence allows people to make the computers and the systems that bring this page to my screen. Intellegence allows me to keep in touch with distant friends. Intellegence makes great art and music possible and allows me to appreciate it. In short, intellegence is one of the greatest gifts we are given.

Of course, just like money or nuclear power, it is how you use it that really counts.

[semi]

If you don't like the "bad" things, stop interpreting neutral events such as death, pain, or missing a loved one as bad and see them as the opportunities for learning and growth and transition that they really are. War, for example, is one of the mechanisms used for creating death and pain, which makes it a useful tool for learning, growth, and so on. Yes, lots of people die during a war. Everything dies eventually. It's not a "bad" thing, it's just another part of life. And I don't say this facetiously, I've had many friends and loved ones die, including two while I held them. It hurts. A lot. Then you use the pain as an opportunity for learning, growth, etc etc etc......

[RakliDipity]

I agree with Cassie and Infinite Grey, Intelligence is just a tool. Intelligence was used to create the atom bomb, and Intelligence is being used to cure cancer. Morals and ethics play a big part on how you use the intelligence.
Also, perhaps it is just how you perceive knowing your own fate, knowing that you will someday die.

[Cain]

"I would rather be a Socrates disatisfied than a pig satisfied"
- John Stuart Mill

Thats basically my thoughts on this.

[Garm]

Our much vaunted intelligence is nothing but an unimpressively puny pool of information with a egoidal conciousness stuck into the center.

A small animal is made up of more information than our intelligence could ever comprehend and the critter itself is part of an incredibily vast self peretuating system of information.

To understand how our type of intelligence came to be you have to ask what sort of conditions would require the subject to object division that underlies all our possible experience.

The only type of being that would need it would be one lacking in structural integrity with no physically discrete body. The process of division and separation that makes up the experience of "I" would be essential to such a beings continuity.

Perhaps an intermittant EMP cycle in a plasmic soup or, rather more likely, a puff of energized gas.

If the concioussness of such beings is the model for own it is easy to see how it came to reside in material shells.

In fact I can just hear what they must have been saying.

"Hey, there's this tribe of primates living in bondage to the tyranny of matter. If we liberate them, it will set off a domino effect as other sentient beings come to realize the benefits of self awareness, democracy and free market economics."

[laserhazel]

I also thought when growing up about what it would be like to be God. Unfortunately, when I was a kid, it was more "boylike" to be macho. Being macho included playing war, studying war, and studying martial arts. When I grew up however, it became more obvious to me that the disciplines that I studied as a child were only leading up to a knowledge of how things which cause human suffering can be eliminated. The most powerful principle of Kung-fu is to modify yourself until the battle is no longer there, or simply to avoid the fight. In Ninjitsu, it is taught that a real Ninja does not kill, he eliminates. It is my lifes purpose to eliminate human suffering.

In your case, it appears that it is necessary to eliminate the sense that God allows human suffering. All human suffering exists to teach the world how to eliminate human suffering. Theorhetically, God created suffering to teach appreciation for life eternal when all suffering is gone.

[Little Billy]

I also thought when growing up about what it would be like to be God.

You know, upon reflection, that job would suck.

[laserhazel]

It would be difficult to maintain that children starving to death and disease being rampant is a necessity, but without those things, would anyone appreciate the non-existence of those things?

Then there are issues of what would happen if the human race could not accept the release of such things. I know they would love life a lot more without them.

[semi]

A human who does not experience suffering, pain, death, and so on is only half alive and missing these other neccessary components of what it is to be human. If people weren't so afraid of feeling pain, suffering, or death, it would seriously cut down on their personal anguish and people would be much happier, knowing that these things are going to occur and refusing to live in fear of them. Yes, it sucks that children are dying of hunger and disease. It's inconceivable, in my mind, how billionaires and hunger can exist on the same planet. But it is a reality. And as long as humans remain human, their greed will continue to make this reality. So the only real way to end human suffering is to end humanity.

[laserhazel]

I cannot fathom the thought of allowing human suffering, it is the same as letting a child walk in front of a school bus.

[Philosophia]

I cannot fathom the thought of allowing human suffering, it is the same as letting a child walk in front of a school bus.

But you do allow it...
Humans suffer every single day. Human suffering cannot be stopped because its an inevitability of humanity. It's a way of personal evolution via experiance, and allows an individual to become stronger. Without it, would anything new occur? Without suffering, can personal growth occur?

[semi]

But you do allow it...
Humans suffer every single day. Human suffering cannot be stopped because its an inevitability of humanity. It's a way of personal evolution via experiance, and allows an individual to become stronger. Without it, would anything new occur? Without suffering, can personal growth occur?

I agree 100%. You want to eradicate human suffering? Eradicate humanity. I think humans are here to learn and evolve. Suffering is a powerful mechanism for doing this. Why take it away? So everyone can be happy without a care in the world? Then we'd all go crazy from the boredom. Life is not worth living without obstacles to face and overcome, without opportunites for learning and growth.

And Laserhazel, aren't you perpetuating the suffering by suffering about wanting to do somethjing about the suffering?

[HetHert]

I think one should also consider that each person may have a different concept of suffering.

A person who lives on a 500,000 dollar a year salary might consider the meagerness of a 50,000 dollar a year income a form of suffering. Where as the person who has never realized a 500, 000 dollar income and has made the best life they know how on 50,000 dollar income may not even consider themselves to be suffering. They could infact be quite happy with what they have.

I realize this may be a bit trite but how we define suffering goes along way to understanding the human condition and how to rise above the experience.

Pain and suffering put pleasure and joy into a perspective. Without them the sweetness and goodness of life wouldn't be nearly as joyous. They would be bland and undefinable...

Good without the bad is definitionless.

Life is a harmony and balance between opposites, in experiences, in existing, in understanding, and perception.

[Theres]

i think there is so much pain because there is so much stupid.

you wanna make a difference? teach your children!

[Sun Sprite]

Sometimes, I can wish I had a little less intelligence. Sometimes, I wish could not understand why the wife of a child abuser would bring their child and grandchild to thier husband to be abused. Sometimes I wish I could not understand why that adult child would be jealous when her father starts abuseing her own daughter.

So yes, intelliegence can cause suffereing. It can also cause compassion. It can also cause you to see the answers society hasn't seen or accepted yet, not in this empire anyway.

I wish I couldn't see so many things some days, but other days, I feel the hope for the generations after this empire is gone. I wish I didn't have to live to see the fall, but no one wishes to see the fall of a once great empire.

[sari0009]

to me intelligence is not a gift and i think the ultimate god(dess) is also miserable with such advanced intelligence

It's not intelligence that's hurt us as much as the lack of emotional intelligence (http://eqi.org/)and poor choices made, and making better choices takes all sorts of intelligence and imagination.


The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope. -- Henry Wart Beecher
Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. -- Mark Twain
Reality leaves a lot to the imagination. -- John Lennon
It's amazing what you can do with an E in A-level art, twisted imagination, and a chainsaw. (He won the Turner Prize (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_prize).) -- Damian Hirst (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Hirst)Talk to enough people who have gone through similar traumatic experiences and it's amazing what different choices of reaction and perception people choose -- some will remain tortured and hurtful beings and others will do something constructive.

Other than that, I don't think we were meant to live only in a cacoon of bliss.

[ILOVEAUTUMNS]

suffering of exercising or studying is positive

needless suffering in the world (including everything else is pointless)

only the good suffering of mental and physical endurance brings growth

the awareness of one's death or anyone else's is enough pain to appreciate life

I don't think there needs to be an intense amount of pain in the world for us to appreciate life...

simply going to university is pain enough (any endurance towards growth is)
this is an understandable kind of pain (endurance of exercise)

and there is enough wealth for everyone in the world to be a millionaire.....


I agree that emotional intelligence needs to be improved to alleviate suffering and I have found this in meditation and with help from healers (including some on this board ((((Hugs)))) to them!!!!

just my two cents for the topic I started :)

[SilentDreams]

Intellect is the second greatest gift granted to humanity, the primary being freewill. Even if were didn't have our intelligence, we'd still be killing each other, nature is not a gentle as people would like to think. Humans are not the only animal that kills when it isn't hungry, dogs, lions, tigers and bears, oh my. It's common misconception that Humans are the only murderers in nature... we're just the best at it.

Intelligence is a tool, used for good and evil. Memories and hurt can be forgotten in a matter of will, we adapt, we survive. GO HUMANS!

Hehe, I must agree with your post in full.

Especially this part...

Humans are the only murderers in nature... we're just the best at it.

Also I'd like to add. Any higher being is just that, higher. I think we as humans all have our balance of bad and good, stress and relaxation, torment and trimuph. I also believe that the Gods and Goddesses(and all creatures in existence) go through the same. But I can't think of one human I know who is so upset by the state of our world that they think our knowledge is torture. So honestly, I can't see why a being who is most likely more intelligent *AND* more "put-together" couldn't handle it as well.

But I do see where the original poster is coming from and if I didn't have reason against it, I'd agree with you.