Humanity and Information

     Of all the distinctions that separate us from other animals (opposable thumbs, tool-making, weapons, societies, etc.) I feel one of the most important leap forwards in our species was when we started being able to process and bear host to complex ideas and information. 

  

     Information processing, development, and comprehension are core components of any intelligent conscious entity, biological or otherwise.  Humans are no different. What distinguishes us from other animals is our intelligence. This is not a novel statement or truth, but I wanted to focus on the part of human intelligence that deals with ideas and information.

      To start, I view the human mind as "bearing host" to complex information and ideas. Our minds absorb the information of the world around us and it constructs our conscious understanding of the physical world. Not just the physical, but abstract information as well.

     In fact, probably the most distinguishing characteristic of the human species is our relationship with information. Even more so than any physical trait. The human mind can process information in a way unlike any other organism known to mankind, and it is what makes us such a relatively advanced lifeform.

     When I talk about "bearing host" to information, I'm talking about how our mind's foundation is based on our understanding and processing of the information that makes up our reality, both abstract and physical. We take in information with our senses, develop and construct images and ideas we both take in from the external world as well as the information that exists within ourselves in our own imagination, and we "host" the information we believe to be true and pertinent to our lives like a symbiote.

       Our entire conscious awareness of existence is based on our relationship with information. The human brain by far the most advanced information processing and generating system in existence that we are aware of. It bears host to and generates a wide array of complex ideas and advanced information that has led to our species being advanced as it is. 

      Without the complex network of the human brain, advanced ideas and information would not have a viable host to utilize and take hold in. 

   There are a wide and diverse array of types of information, just like there are a wide and diverse array of worldviews and belief systems that humans subscribe to. In an infinite existence, the limitations to the types of information and belief systems are only as limited as your imagination. 

    As a result of this, human minds that are structured in a certain way and oriented to believing and comprehending certain types of information might find believing and comprehending alternative ways of thinking or viewing the world as quite difficult or elusive. They might even view such patterns of thought as fallacious even. 

Because of information diversity and the different thinking orientation of human minds, in some situations an absolute consensus on existence and its truths and understandings probably will never be reached. Since I believe existence is infinite, I believe it is infinitely complex, and since humans are finite with finite complexity, comprehending the sheer scope of the diversity of information and belief systems will always prove to be elusive for our species. 

    The beauty is that, in regards to some things, a human being can make up their own mind about the deeper mysteries of reality or existence. A word of caution, though. This society does indeed crack down on any divergent thought it deems to be problematic. 

In other words, freely think at your own risk.

    Diversity of information and the diversity of human vantage points can lead to misunderstandings between people and even conflict. Even atrocities can be committed by people who don't understand a different worldview of someone else and is blinded to its truth and utility. In fact, lack of understanding, hatred of differentness, and a blindness to the complexities of existence has led to some of the most egregious sins in human history.

    Even with the potential to bear host to complex ideas and information, many human beings do not rise to the challenge of doing so. Even so, the human species would not be as advanced or successful if its relationship with both abstract and physical information were any different. If their are other forms of consciousness out there, who knows what kind of relationship with information that they have. If they are more advanced than us, the complexities of their thought and knowledge could greatly eclipse our own.