If intelligence leads to self-destruction, humans have a rosy future

I was cruising through JC Wilcox’s most recent letter and smiling in approval until I got to the line “History teaches that intelligence leads to self-destruction, while sentience ensures survival.”

Huh? What specific historical events teach us that intelligence leads to self-destruction? Could we have a few examples? If “intelligence” leads to self-destruction, maybe by definition it’s not intelligence at all. 

Here JC has taken a good idea (respect for life should be based on the perception that all species suffer) and pushed it to absurd limits. The Buddha expressed the idea perfectly in the Dhammapada, Verse 130: “Life is dear to all. Comparing oneself to others, one should neither kill nor cause to kill.” But he never pushed it to absurd limits.

“Sentience ensures survival” is also a questionable proposition. Wikipedia defines sentience as “the ability to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively”. That ability did not save the dinosaurs or dodos from extinction. In any species, intelligence plus the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) come as a package. The more each element in the package is developed, the greater are any species’ chances of survival. The elements of strength and speed are also important, and adaptability might be the most vital element of all. But survival also requires a large dose of luck, like no extreme climate changes and no collisions between our planet and asteroids. 

If it could be proved that intelligence does lead to self-destruction, and that, conversely, stupidity facilitates survival, then we humans have a rosy future. The recent history of certain nations compels the conclusion that we’re not as smart as we think we are.

Ye Olde Curmudgeon