CONTEMPLATIONS ON ��MAN OF WISDOM��

Gao Huan��

Suppose an eye is in the vast space, looking down in the direction of the earth. Then the view zooms in on China, on Shanghai, on Fudan University, on a certain classroom where I am reading the article ��Man of Wisdom�� and trying to write an essay that has something to do with it.

What a ridiculous minuscule entity I am, when compared with the infinitude of the universe! If the eye in space were mine, I would probably laugh at the sound and fury of the human beings, who always think they are doing something of real big significance. Homo sapiens have reached the present degree of sophistication after millions of years of struggle against adversity and then have begun to think they have got reasons to claim, ��How great we are!�� However, the seemingly long period in which human beings have been involved, after all, takes up only a very insignificant part of the history of the universe.

Human brains have expanded in step with the human adaptation to the climate and as a result of interaction with each other and of the use of tools. This almost seems like a miracle. But to think more soberly, it is by no means a miracle. It is just Nature��s way. Human beings are just a part of evolution. So it follows that they will, in time, be a loser by the law of survival of the fittest: Though human beings tend to take it for granted that they are the highest stage of evolution and therefore see themselves as the master of Nature, it is more likely that they are just another bunch of transient passengers on this planet. Maybe one day some different species, which fits the environment better, will appear and gradually replace us Homo sapiens.

What an abominable scene! You would say it is downright pessimistic and ominous to think that way. But it is nonetheless a possible direction of future development. It is only because we cannot have ourselves perpetuated that we think it is disastrous to get terminated by the laws of Nature. Of course, Nature does not necessarily ��think�� so. If it could think, it might even be glad that a sophisticated species has come into being and begun to flourish. It is indeed a progress.

Why won��t there be another sudden change in climate where not all Homo sapiens can survive? The remaining human beings and other creatures will adapt to the new harshness and improve themselves through certain inventions, which may play a similar role to that of tools and language. Then Homo sapiens are not the most advanced. Something else gets fully developed and dominates in turn.

But look what human beings are doing now, as the self-appointed master of Nature. They fly to the moon and dive into the sea. They probably know more than any other species about Nature, though their knowledge is still very limited compared to the whole scope of mystery in this universe. They are transforming Nature more consciously and drastically than ever. Some of the changes are irrecoverable, even if human beings suddenly cease all the activities they are carrying on and begin efforts at restoring the status quo ante. Does Nature ��think�� that the species called Homo sapiens is overactive? Or is it just predetermined by the law of Nature that Homo sapiens ARE bound to be overactive so that at last the will render their living place unlivable and then extirpate themselves, before any new inclement climate can set in, before a comet can collide with the earth, which reputedly had put the dinosaurs to an end millions of years ago?

But what if human beings go so far as to make impossible the further development of whatever new dominant species at the same time that they terminate their own existence? The earth will be dead. This will indeed be regression. But in this new chaos, which is richer of fossils than the last, another circle of evolution is to start. It suddenly dawns on me that perhaps we are already in the second or even the hundredth round of evolution.

There seems to be no end once I start pondering over the origin and future of human beings as a component of the universe. Infinity is such a vast idea that it even gives me the creeps.

Professor Sun Li's Comment: Interesting!

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