At some point in the evolution of the only remaining human species, Homo sapiens, I’ve come to believe that an intelligibility intervention occurred involving a being or beings greater than our human species. This intervention transformed intelligent Homo sapiens into contemporary human beings with partial intelligibility.

 

To any person who studies the human species, it is obvious that we are different than all other species, including all other humanoid species, in so many ways. How did this occur? When did this occur? Why did this occur? Who caused it to occur? What is it, exactly, that occurred?

 

These unanswered questions have challenged humankind ever since humans have had questions, like where do we come from? To our knowledge, no other species questions anything, aside from their survival. This is why many people believe that something, or someone, or some species greater than ours has intervened. Modern humans have been re-created, but not by ourselves. We seem to have been re-created for a whole new level of survival, eternal survival.

 

This awareness of our uniqueness also seems to have a starting point late in the evolution of the species, but not one that can be dated. At some point in our evolution, human beings changed very rapidly over a relatively very short period. Around that point in time, we somehow obtained awareness and insight not acquired by any other species, not then nor since.

 

The age of the Homo-sapiens species is estimated to be roughly 200,000 years. Like many other creatures, humans have sentience, meaning – the ability to perceive one’s environment and experience sensations of those perceptions. From the time of the intelligibility intervention to contemporary humans, we seem to be developing a much higher form of consciousness than mere animal sentience.

 

Becoming aware of ourselves, in itself, is not unique to humans.

 

Most animals that look at a mirror reflection of themselves don’t show signs of recognizing themselves. Like the cats and dogs that star in many Internet videos, when they see themselves in the mirror, they will think they’re seeing another cat or dog. Some cats and dogs become curious about their reflection, while others get upset and lash out at their image.

 

Other animals show clear indications that they are aware that the image they see in the mirror is themselves. Orcas, dolphins, elephants, chimpanzees, and magpies have all demonstrated that they recognize themselves in the mirror and will sometimes ‘pose’. They have self-awareness, but still, none of these animals show levels of awareness like humans possess.

 

If you conduct an Internet search using the phrase, ‘crows pass tests’, you will find a litany of samples of brilliant crows passing amazing tests and accomplishing tremendous feats using tools. The crows do well in the tests, but the crows still can’t design nor set up the tests, nor type up a paper on their accomplishments.

 

We’ve become aware of ourselves as a peculiar species with intelligibility that goes far beyond even our capacity to fully comprehend. That means, we’re wiser and more intelligent than we can know. Put another way; we still have no idea what the full potential is for a human, for humans, or for all of humankind, even with our current level of intellect and intelligibility. It’s as if we’ve been handed a textbook for a university course when we’re still six years old – we can read it, but we have a long way to go before fully comprehending it.

 

This is one fact that compels us to think that something or someone greater than us is involved. Some being(s), greater than humans, seems to have infused humans with the capacity to conceive of beings greater than humans. We’ve been given unique abilities to reason, to study and develop science, philosophy and math, to discern theologies, to hypothesize and contemplate possibilities, to formulate ideas, art and culture, to experiment and discover, to communicate and educate, to socialize, to cooperate and build communities, and to have faith that it’s all part of a grand plan by the greater being(s). Oh yeah, and we wear clothes.

 

Another compelling fact, which demonstrates a higher knowledge than ours, is how much we don’t know, yet. Who is/are the greater being(s)? What is their grand plan for humankind? To what end are we becoming more aware of greater things and beings? Why would the greater being(s) be so mysterious and elusive? Are there greater beings than the greater beings? We can’t even be sure if the greater being(s) is/are benevolent and/or malevolent, yet.

 

The only thing that we know for certain is that humans are still learning, at an alarming rate.

 

Today, many people living in both developed and developing nations still struggle to figure out all this new technology stuff. Technology, and the big tech companies, scare a lot of people for no other reason except, people don’t understand the technology, nor the tech companies. It’s human nature to fear what we don’t understand. Not to mention; current media stories regarding big tech companies and crypto-currencies have created further fears and regrets towards technological advances.

 

A December 6, 2018, article on the ITU News(i) website is titled, “New ITU statistics show more than half the world is now using the Internet”. That means, at the time, about half the world’s population, or 3.8 billion people, still didn’t understand that level of technology.

 

More recently, the DataReportal website published a report saying, “A total of 5.07 billion people around the world use the internet today – equivalent to 63.5 percent of the world’s total population.

 

Internet users continue to grow too, with the latest data indicating that the world’s connected population grew by more than 170 million in the 12 months to October 2022.”(ii) With global population achieving 8 billion recently, that still leaves nearly 3 billion people out and represents a slight increase of 800 million users, or 0.1%, over four years.

 

Scientists today still don’t know; how gravity or magnets work, nor what keeps a molecule together, nor why there is abundant life nowhere else but earth, nor how much unknown life there is on our planet, nor all the elements that make up our world and our universe. Scientists don’t know how to cure a common cold, and still can’t tell us why we yawn.

 

This shows how far mankind has come and how far humankind has to go. It’s also a clear indication that humans were not born to use technologies. We are overwhelmed by our own selves, as a human species.

 

How can we have some humans that don’t know how or where to get fresh water, while other humans can describe the molecular structure of water, and its boiling and freezing points, and what percentage of our planetary or human body is composed of it, and how to repel or attract it – all using a device that fits in their pocket?

 

It is possible for technologies and companies to conjure water from the air, but it’s not possible for people, who need the water, to afford to pay the companies for those technologies.

 

That’s a huge divide without a perceivable bridge. Humanity has a lot to learn.
 

To many people, learning technology doesn’t come naturally and they constantly struggle with IT (Information Technologies), while other people seem to be logically minded and technology feels innate to them. This is not a typical distinction like one language, religion, or culture compared to another. This technological distinction divides people in a whole new way, and at an ever-increasing pace. Many people not familiar with technology are feeling left behind, without any hope of, nor desire for, catching up.

 

How many people do you know who are familiar with all the leading-edge technologies of today? Do we all understand cloning and CRISPR? Will we ever be able to fully control artificial intelligence technologies? Are we ready to let our cars drive us to and from work? Is it good to pay for groceries with your watch? Will we have tiny robots cleaning the inside our bodies and bigger ones cleaning the inside our house? Do we need access to millions of TV shows and movies, if we only watch one at a time?

 

Is technology running amok? Of course not, it’s people running amok with technologies.

 

It’s not likely that humans are learning all this technology just so we can have some cool gadgets and make companies rich. It is more likely that all this technology is meant for us to learn more about ourselves, our environment, our planet, our universe and our creator, and the intelligibility intervention of the higher being(s).

 

So what is the purpose for all these fast-developing technologies in the near and far future? Perhaps it’s to allow mankind to live forever, sort of. If we build big enough computers, we can (in theory) upload our entire consciousness to them in a digital format that can be copied and backed up forever.

 

Perhaps, all this technology will one day allow us to meet other intelligent, intelligible and technologically advanced life forms spread throughout the universe. Who knows, maybe we can go to other universes too.

 

So, what are we meant to learn with all this technology and upcoming technologies? Everything!

 

That’s the potential for humankind if we ever master this partial intelligibility we now possess. Already, humans can conceive of possibilities like; interstellar travel with faster-than-light speeds, teleportation of people and cargo, android colleagues, buddies, lovers and dogs, colonies on Mars and passing asteroids, and even, everlasting life.

 

Once the intellectual speeds and capabilities of artificial intelligence surpass that of humans, then we cannot imagine nor predict future possibilities. We can’t know if a higher artificial intelligence will grow to become benevolent or malevolent towards its creators.

 

Could the greater being(s) who intervened with humans be artificially intelligent beings? Probably not. Artificial means not real. If they’re artificial, then they’re controlled. The higher being(s) must be real because they have intervened and created a unique species – us.

 

The partial intelligibility that humans were gifted with seems to be unique and peculiar to humans.

 

Though Homo sapiens began evolving just like all the rest of the animals, something happened to differentiate and elevate them to modern humans. One most obvious differentiation between humans and other species is our ability to ponder where we come from. But it’s not likely that the first Homo sapiens were able to reason and ponder any better than other species.

 

“Who were the first “people,” who saw and interpreted the world as we do? Studies of genes and fossils agree that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago. But although these earliest humans looked like us, it’s not clear they thought like us.”, - from A Journey to the Oldest Cave Paintings in the World | History | Smithsonian(iii)

 

It seems like a basic human instinct to contemplate beings greater than ourselves, or a greater spiritual force, be it of the land or of the heavens. But, it couldn’t have always been this way.

 

We know that humans first started leaving ‘snapshots’ on the walls of caves, for whatever reason, circa 35,000 years ago.

 

“Scattered on the walls (in caves on the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia) are stencils, human hands outlined against a background of red paint. Though faded, they are stark and evocative, a thrilling message from the distant past.”(iv)

 

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“This ghostly babirusa (also called deer-pigs) has been known to locals for decades, but it wasn’t until (Maxime) Aubert, a geochemist and archaeologist, used a technique he developed to date the painting that its importance was revealed. He found that it is staggeringly ancient: at least 35,400 years old. That likely makes it the oldest-known example of figurative art anywhere in the world—the world’s very first picture.”(v)

 

These weren’t the first art on cave walls, just the first figurative art of humans and human activities. Humans were showing clear signs of spiritual practices in cave paintings for nearly twice as long.

 

“Clottes (French prehistorian Jean Clottes) has championed the theory that in Europe, where art was hidden deep inside dark chambers, the main function of cave paintings was to communicate with the spirit world. Smith (Benjamin Smith, a rock art scholar at the University of Western Australia) is likewise convinced that in Africa, spiritual beliefs drove the very first art. He cites Rhino Cave in Botswana, where archaeologists have found that 65,000 to 70,000 years ago people sacrificed carefully made spearheads by burning or smashing them in front of a large rock panel carved with hundreds of circular holes. “We can be sure that in instances like that, they believed in some sort of spiritual force,” says Smith. “And they believed that art, and ritual in relation to art, could affect those spiritual forces for their own benefit. They’re not just doing it to create pretty pictures. They’re doing it because they’re communicating with the spirits of the land.”(vi)

If you’re wondering about unproven, speculative or disputed evidence of intentional burial of the dead; 250,000 years ago, there are some indications that Homo naledi(vii) (an extinct species of hominin) bodies may have been deliberately placed in a chamber of the Rising Star Cave(viii) system near the time of their death. And, 300,000 years ago, the site at Atapuerca(ix), in Spain has bones of over 32 individuals in a pit within a cave.

 

All these facts, artifacts and speculative science prove that humans have shown signs of intelligence, or at the least, demonstrated spiritual awareness, for a very long time, even before the Homo sapiens species.

 

“The nature and origins of hominid intelligence is a much-studied and much-debated topic, of natural interest to humans as the most successful and intelligent hominid species.

 

There is no universally accepted definition of intelligence, one definition is "the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn." The evolution of hominid intelligence can be traced over its course for the past 10 million years, and attributed to specific environmental challenges.

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It is a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory, however, to see this as a necessary process, and an even greater misunderstanding to see it as one directed to a particular outcome.

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There are primate species which have not evolved any greater degree of intelligence than they had 10 million years ago: this is because their particular environment has not demanded this particular adaptation of them.

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Intelligence as an adaptation to the challenge of natural selection is no better or worse than any other adaptation, such as the speed of the cheetah or the venomous bite of the cobra.

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It is, however, the only adaptation which has allowed a species to establish complete domination over the rest of the natural world.

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Whether our species has yet acquired sufficient intelligence to manage this responsibility is a matter for debate.”(x)

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Therefore, while it seems likely that the level of intelligence achieved by the originating human species was a natural adaptation, it’s still not the same as the ineligibility achieved by humans in modernity, nor is it part of any typical evolution on this planet. The intelligence of the performing crow doesn’t demonstrate that the crow knows that he is intelligent. Modern humans are intelligent and we know it. That’s ineligibility.

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This unlikely adaptation also demonstrates that human intelligibility was not inevitable, nor evolutionary, nor could it have been happenstance, as no other known species, living or deceased, in the entire vastness and history of the universe, has ever demonstrated intelligibility like humans.

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The uniqueness of the human species, and the fact that we did not create intelligibility, means that someone, or something, or some species greater than us has intervened with their intelligibility.

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The partial intelligibility of mankind has given us the capacity to consider our evolution and creation. Believing in spirituality and/or spiritual being(s) since ancient times, people have since developed religions and religious practices in an attempt to help us better understand the spiritual being(s). People have generally called the greater being(s) God, the gods or aliens.

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This helps people who are trying to understand the intelligibility we’ve been gifted with. God or the gods or aliens would possess the intelligibility and, through their benevolence, seed their intelligibility to grow within the human consciousnesses, so that we might grow to become more like them. Perhaps this is a form of gestation for the higher being(s). It could be a good way for immortals to reproduce.

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Now, as we consider the evolution of humans and the creation of human intelligibility, it becomes obvious that there had to be two creations that led to contemporary humans. The creation of an environment for humans, then the creation of the humans who are to, not only inhabit but, dominate that environment.

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The first creation is theorized to be the Big Bang which created everything in the universe, including Homo sapiens and our unique home in the universe. The second big bang is likely the intelligibility intervention that occurred within the minds of sapient beings. Both were required for humans to rise to who we are today.

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The first Big Bang was meant to disburse everything outwards from one singularity. The second big bang is meant to gather everyone inwards towards one singularity.

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Everything that results from the first Big Bang will, through entropy, disperse and fall into destruction, then oblivion. Everyone that results from the second big bang of human intelligibility, will, through grace, unite and rise up to everlasting life.

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Is all this just nature-at-work, so to speak? Not likely, or we’d see more species with human levels of intelligence and intelligibility. All of nature seems to be at our disposal and our will. Human intelligibility is beyond anything the universe or nature has demonstrated to humans, so far.

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The intelligibility intervention is something only an advanced intellectual being or beings could accomplish. We were never clever enough to make ourselves this clever.

 

Humans require intelligibility to conceive of any other being(s) with intelligibility. But, this doesn’t mean that humans have been given full intelligibility. That would require even greater intellectual capabilities than our mortal human minds can muster. Humans have partial intelligibility in comparison to the being(s) which intervened.

 

Who could the intervening being(s) be?
 

It may just be that we come from the Garden of Eden where God created Adam and Eve as the first human beings. That’s not to say that Adam and Eve were created as the first Homo sapiens, only the first humans with intelligibly. Homo sapiens needed to evolve for a very long time to attain an intellectual capacity sufficient for intervention to be effective.

 

That’s when God revealed Himself to Homo sapiens for the first time and placed Adam and Eve in His Garden of Eden and told them the rules.

 

I acknowledge that many people may not share in this belief in God’s creation and creations, so let us suppose that this is a parable of creation instead. So, this creator gives the power of intelligibility to creatures and tells them, don’t eat the fruit. They eat the fruit and all hell breaks loose – so to speak.

 

In this parable, let’s consider what might have happened if the creatures obeyed the rules, always, and never ate the forbidden fruit, never learning about good and evil. What would the world be like for the people in the parable – then, throughout history, and now?

 

Would that world be perfect and would everybody in that world be perfect? To be honest, how would we know? We’ve never been perfect and we don’t know perfection when we encounter it. That is, how could we distinguish between a being or beings greater than us, and perfection? We fully understand neither.

 

We don’t know perfection, and if we ever entered into a perfect world filled with perfect people, we would likely be so overwhelmed as to faint or even die. Think of ancient Anatomically Modern Humans – what scientists previously called, Cro-Magnon man (aka: Early European modern humans (EEMH). If we were to bring one of them from their era into our modern world, they would likely be so overwhelmed as to faint or even die. They might think that we’re perfect gods.

 

So, is perfection just a matter of perspective? No. There is one and only one perfection. Everyone else is on their way to that singular perfection, like everything that gets drawn into a singularity.

 

The intelligibility of humans is not inherent, so if it is infused, then perfection itself also becomes infused, or at the very least, aspirations towards perfection are infused. In other words, our awareness of perfection and our aspirations towards it are not found in any other species.

 

This may prompt the question; is intelligibility what aspires humans to seek out perfection? This seems likely because I don’t think we can conceive of perfection without intelligibility.

 

Doesn’t nature cause creatures like us to evolve towards perfection? Sure, but not at the pace that is occurring within the human species. The intelligibility intervention has accelerated a process that may have taken millions of years to occur naturally, if at all.

 

A seminal, perhaps irreversible change occurred to introduce perfection in our minds and we became and remain restless in our aspirations towards perfection ever since.

 

Humankind is so enamoured with perfection that we can see our pursuit of it in everything that we have ever invented. Once something has been invented, we tend to find ways to make it; cheaper, better, more efficient, fewer problems, easier to learn and use, more attractive and ‘all new’! It’s never good enough and there's always room for improvement – until it is perfect.

 

That’s the elusive part, it’s never going to be perfect. How will we ever make anything perfect, unless we are perfect? Even if we could make things perfectly, we’d be making them in a universe of entropy. That means everything decays, falls into disorder and chaos, and eventually will become nothing. In our universe, perfection wouldn’t last very long.

 

Where we can experiment with perfection is in our modern human mind, in our thoughts, our contemplations, our imaginings, and our suppositions of what could be and what might be possible. We can conceive of perfection without being perfect – which is perfect for the mind of humankind, still under development.
 

Our ability to conceive of perfection allows us to move towards that perfection and even have some inkling of whether we’re going in the right direction and on track or not. That inkling just might be our conscience at play. Like the image of a tiny angel on one shoulder and a tiny devil on the other, telling us what we should or shouldn’t do – if we make the correct decisions, we inch a little closer to perfection each time.

 

As much as humankind is fascinated with perfection, we’re also fascinated with eternity. Again, because we don’t fully understand either, they likely go hand-in-hand. That is, perhaps we cannot achieve perfection without eternity.

 

Let me stop here and remind readers – no other species has ever been able to do this, ever. Your cat doesn’t think about perfection and eternity. Only beings with intelligibility think like us. So, let’s think about eternity.

 

Eternity offers us wonderful contemplative exercises. Have you ever tried to imagine an eternal life? I find it endlessly fascinating.

 

For example, if we live forever, then time means nothing, or it means everything, depending on if you’re interested in time. Space also means nothing, in so far as, with eternal time we can reach every corner of the universe, and it can take as much or as little time as we wish. With enough time we could get to know the entire universe and everything in it and store what we’ve discovered in our eternal, unlimited memories. Then, we don’t even have to travel to anywhere in the universe, we simply recall our original trip, in perfect detail, and we’re instantaneously there.

 

Another cool thing to contemplate is watching multiple TVs. If time and space mean nothing anymore, imagine watching two or three TV channels simultaneously and following them, perfectly. How about watching two or three hundred TV channels simultaneously and understanding them all, perfectly? What would that be like?

 

Here’s another favourite eternity contemplation – if we live forever, do we learn everything about everything and learn it perfectly? If we learn everything that there is to learn, perfectly, do we become omniscient?

 

Then, there’s the perspective contemplation. If I can be anywhere in the universe at any time, does that mean I can be in front of you at the same time that I’m behind you, and beside you, and all around you, and hovering over top you? Could I visualize all those perspectives simultaneously somehow? How would that be any more useful, or beneficial than having a single perspective?

 

We can also contemplate things like; gender, age, reproduction, familial relations, societal connections and responsibilities, money and belongings, etc., with a whole new perspective, not reliant on time constraints, death or ignorance. That changes everything.

 

In all the universe, with all our human senses, we do not find eternity nor perfection nor any proof that they exist. Perhaps we’re unable to recognize perfection which is right before us, right now. Trying to prove that perfection is with us or around us is pointless unless we can recognize it.

 

The intelligibility intervention opened the door to perfection and eternity, and now our human minds can’t get enough of them. Scientists, athletes, engineers, magicians, stock analysts, technology developers, theologians, chefs, jugglers, gamblers, musicians and movie stars, and self-seeking individuals all want to achieve perfection in their fields and be famous for eternity. None will ever do it, without perfect intelligibility.

 

To be clear, intelligibility is not the same as intelligence. Homo sapiens have been intelligent since the start. The word sapiens in Latin means intelligent. Intelligibility goes beyond intelligence and even works differently. Intelligence must be acquired, but intelligibility is given. Think of it like intelligence-vs-wisdom. We’re not born with intelligence, it is learned and we keep learning it for life. Wisdom is inherent as instinct or intuition and remains the same our whole life. Intelligence must be renewed but wisdom lasts lifetimes. Many people are quite intelligent, yet not very wise. Many people are not at all intelligent, yet very wise. If you find yourself needing to choose between intelligence and wisdom, be careful, people can live happily with wisdom and no intelligence, but it’s very hard to live with intelligence and no wisdom. Our gift of partial intelligibility is our inherent partial wisdom.

 

Perfection is one single concept and eternity is; everyone, everything, everywhere and always, as a concept. Conceptions such as these can only be conceived of with intelligibility, and intelligibility comes from somewhere, thank God.

 

Just as intelligibility, perfection and eternity are known, yet not fully known, so too are Faith, Love, Truth, Justice, Beauty, Peace, Unity of Humankind, Heaven, and God. None of these things are of any concern to any other species, human or otherwise. There’s a reason for that. There’s a plan.

 

How tempting, fascinating, intriguing and satisfying it is to think that we could, one day, learn everything that there is to know about all these things.

 

Wouldn’t that be perfect?

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i- (International Telecommunication Union)-(https://news.itu.int/itu-statistics-leaving-no-one-offline/)

 

ii - https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview

 

iii - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/journey-oldest-cave-paintings-world-180957685/

 

iv - (International Telecommunication Union)-(https://news.itu.int/itu-statistics-leaving-no-one-offline/)

 

v - (International Telecommunication Union)-(https://news.itu.int/itu-statistics-leaving-no-one-offline/)

 

vi - (International Telecommunication Union)-(https://news.itu.int/itu-statistics-leaving-no-one-offline/)

 

vii - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_naledi

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viii - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Star_Cave

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ix - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_Site_of_Atapuerca

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x - from Science Daily website – The evolution of human intelligence, https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/hominid_intelligence.htm.

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