Limits to Superiority

We are animals. Each of us has only been on the world for a few decades at most. We are not the sum of all of the people who have lived before us. We are not the sum of even the people who are around us.

It doesn't matter who we are, we all have the same limits. No matter how smart we are, no matter how innately capable we are, we all must use several hours a day for sleep. Admittedly there’s a lot more of other people's experience shared in many different ways; but we have about the same amount of time to take in information.

We are not better than anyone around us, or anyone who has come before us, because we have the same fundamental limitations. We might shine in certain circumstances that other people don't, but there almost certainly are other circumstances where we are as much of a failure as somebody else in either similar or other circumstances.

We are not superior because of our culture, because cultures are products of people. They are subject to the same limitations: their physical environment; their access to resources; the collective knowledge that they can pass along to each of their fundamentally limited members; and, of course, time.

What is superiority anyway? Each creature has its own limitations in many ways shaped by their environment, by their experiences, and their genetics, which are themselves products of a process of trial and error in a variety of different environments that enable them to survive and sometimes thrive in some places (in others, not so much).

Once we accept that we have limitations, that we are not fundamentally superior to anybody or anything else, that we are a product of environment and events that brought us into being, whether they be biological or circumstantial, then we can go about living our lives with judgment based in reality. 

We might invent values and use them to guide our actions and the actions of others who adopt them voluntarily or otherwise. Values are inherently arbitrary, limited by the imagination, experience, and intelligence of their sources; they should themselves be judged accordingly. 

One value is common to all, whether explicit or not: survival. Without those who hold values, the values themselves cease to exist, though the consequences of actions based on those values will continue into the future whether or not anyone can judge them. 

This value highlights a fundamental aspect of existence that can be seen as the ultimate meaning of our lives: we are part of the universe, and the universe is part of us. We are not superior because we are not separate; we are a part, not apart.

As I worry about the future existence of life on Earth, I accept that whatever contribution I make to extending it will be limited. The influence of actions taken based on the values I choose is going to be beyond my control, beyond my limited ability to anticipate what it is. The stress I feel about not living up to those values is as much a consequence of my expectations and understanding as it is about what I accomplish.