ON HUMANS

Quando ullum inventiet prem? When shall we look upon his like again? Horace (Odes Bk I, Ode 24, 1.8)

To the best of our current knowledge, we human beings are the most complex systems to have evolved in the physical universe.

Physically, we are sustained by complex biochemistry, made possible by bio-friendly terrestrial physical conditions of air pressure, temperature range, a planetary mass that enables locomotion while keeping the bodies earth-bound, etc.

Cognitively, the complex faculties of perceptions enable us to become aware of umpteen aspects of the external world.

Experientially, the same sensory organs also generate possibilities for pleasure and pain through taste and smell, sight and sound, and touch.

Mentally, the extraordinary labyrinth of human brains with billions of neurons generate intangible, but powerful, thoughts of all kinds, making life immensely colorful and rich.

Intellectually, we have been stirred by curiosity about the world and quest for the unknown, resulting in science.

Emotionally, we are tossed by love and hate, kindness and cruelty, angst and anger, passion and patience, and such.

Creatively, we have come up with poetry and philosophy, music and mathematics at the abstract level, and also works of art, architecture, and sculpture at the concrete level.

Spiritually, the human spirit (perhaps an abstract outgrowth of the brain) has enabled us to develop self-awareness, and longing for connecting with the cosmic world, resulting in religions and festivals, prayers and pilgrimages, music and meditation.

These are just some aspects that make us exceptionally complex blobs of matter in the wonder that is the universe.

None of this is to say that there may not be other entities as complex as or even more complex than humans in the vast cold void sprinkled with stars and other inert bits of matter here and there.

Some humans lie and cheat, kill and torture, fight wars, conquer and subdue, destroy places of worship, and we preach and persecute in the name of God. Some oppress and exploit, some over-consume and swear, hate and hurt, and destroy the very earth that sustains us. Humans are a species of such despicable nature!

But many of us also love and care. We do physics and biology, calculus and group theory. We build pyramids and pagodas, cathedrals and mosques, temples and synagogues, and more. Through all these, and through poetry and music, telescopes and microscopes, hymns and scientific theories, we strive to commune with the Unfathomable Mystery of existence in a hundred different ways. We dance and play. We paint and sculpt. We make gourmet food, play sports, and convene conferences. We are a species capable of limitless nobility and creativity!

What is one to say of Good and Evil in Homo sapiens? Each of us is an amalgam of the two, actual or potential. They are both latent in our hearts and words and deeds, as in the world outside of us. Evil is ever present, ready to explode, and Good is always there ready to be tapped.