One World

38) The Speed of Logic

Posted 16th September 2016

Recently I was looking through a leaflet from a national pet store on the care of dwarf hamsters. Whilst the most part of the leaflet was specific to the different species of dwarf hamster, the back page of the leaflet showed the pet store's general policy for all its pets: -

"Pets at Home are committed to supporting responsible pet ownership and are working to help ensure that pets are cared for properly and their needs are met:

1. for somewhere suitable to live,

2. for a proper diet, including fresh water,

3. for the ability to express normal behaviour,

4. to be housed with, or apart from, other animals,

5. for protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease."

I thought, what if this policy were applied to the care of all life on Earth, where the 'pet owner' is an alien or android engineered specifically for the role of caring for all sentient beings.

So, let's replace 'Pets at Home' with 'The Cosmic Council', and replace 'pet' with 'animal (including human)'. So, these are the orders issued by the Cosmic Council to the alien/android Earth overlord: -

"The Cosmic Council are committed to supporting responsible animal (including human) ownership and are working to help ensure that animals (including humans) are cared for properly and their needs are met:

1. for somewhere suitable to live,

2. for a proper diet, including fresh water,

3. for the ability to express normal behaviour,

4. to be housed with, or apart from, other animals/humans,

5. for protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease."

Now, the alien/android has a massive task: The animals inflict widespread suffering on one another. Through a process of brutal evolution, sophisticated predator and prey species emerge. The fastest, strongest, most cunning predators thrive whilst prey species also continuously adapt and evolve to counter predation tactics. Then intelligence takes off - humans evolve who are capable of sophisticated thought. Through reason, they can avoid and deter predators, and capture prey. Over time, humans become the dominant species and populate the Earth. Using their intelligence and accumulated knowledge, the humans find their greatest struggle is against others of their own species. After many years of humans inflicting suffering upon one another in their struggle to lay claim to the Earth's available resources, humans begin to have a harmful effect on the planet as a whole. The humans begin to realise the globally harmful consequences of their competitive behaviour. Then, they begin to realise that the only future they have as a species is to find a way to come together, to substitute fighting and competing with helping one another. The simple inclusion in a pet store leaflet of 'the five welfare needs' of vulnerable small animals demonstrates, I hope, that humanity is now moving towards the global application of this philosophy for all sentient beings.

Now the alien/android has a much simpler task. He/she/it need only reveal him/her/itself to the World and declare him/her/itself as the global leader. However, if the humans ever become so wise as to actively care for all sentient beings on Earth, does the alien/android really need to take on the role of leader? The humans, once they realise what they need to do, will arrange and coordinate themselves into a globally cooperative system. They will listen to one another's needs, rather than indifferently fight for their own selfish desires. They will endeavour to make the World a happy place for everyone.

It has been said that the language of the Universe is mathematics. More precisely, I would say, the language of the Universe is logic. Whilst the transmission of information is, allegedly, limited by the speed of light (in a vacuum), logic exists everywhere throughout the infinite cosmos at all times, and does not need channels of communication. One civilisation, after thousands of years of conflict caused by their self-interested behaviour, might realise that universal care for all beings on their planet is logical as it gives rise to peace and happiness. At the same time, many light years away, another civilisation may come to the same conclusion following their own horrible history. That is, no communication is required between one enlightened civilisation and another to relay the secret of a successful society. It's as if the 'speed of logic' is infinitely fast. Through deductive logic most, if not all, civilisations in infinite space will arrive at the conclusion that they must substitute caring solely for the individual self with caring for everyone. This way conflict and struggle is replaced with universal cooperation, where everyone helps everyone to get everything they NEED (not necessarily want).

Suffering is unpleasant. Joy is pleasant. Logically, where there is suffering there will be struggle/rebellion/disquiet/a push for change to a state of joy. That is, all intelligent civilisations will tend towards global joy, where there is harmony/comfort/satisfaction/peace for everyone. Discomfort is a temporary state as it fought against - whereas, once found on a global scale, global contentment is stable and permanent as it is cherished and nurtured. It takes wisdom to achieve and retain such a state of peace - and that wisdom only develops after a period of education which, perhaps necessarily for a complacent intelligent species, includes difficult trial and error. There is no need for messages from outer space, or intervention by alien/android dictators for this planet to find tranquility. Evolution eventually finds the best way, the way that endures...

...and that way is peace and happiness for all.

Scene from "Lost", Season 1, Episode 7: "The Moth"