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To:
letters@independent.co.uk |
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Dear
Sir/Madam,
I would like
to pick up on
what Prof.
Williams said
in Tuesday's
Independent
(Letter)
about "the
evolution of
man [having]
produced a
rapid change
in the
environment
due to man's
intelligent
use of
science" My
italics.
If we were
using science
intelligently we
would not be
in the mess
that we are
in.
But I'm
confusing
intelligence
with wisdom.
We put too
much faith in
our
intelligence,
which without
wisdom to
guide it is
blind.
The supersonic
airliner,
Concorde was a
classic
example of the
application of
intelligence
without wisdom
to guide it.
The same
applies to the
aviation
industry in
general (and
in fact, to
the whole
economy): it
requires and
employs a huge
amount of
intelligence.
But because it
is not guided
by wisdom (but
by economic
forces rooted
in our animal
nature) it is
utterly
unsustainable.
Once you see
it, it's
obvious. But
there are
millions of
jobs and
trillions of
dollars worth
of vested
interests
blinding us to
it.
In a very real
sense we (our
civilisation)
have an
"addiction
problem " (to
fossil fuels,
a
growth-dependent
economy and
grossly
materialistic
lifestyle
aspirations)
that we are
not facing up
to. Once we
do, we can use
wisdom-guided
intelligence
to save
ourselves.
Otherwise, we
are doomed.
Yours
sincerely
Roger Hicks
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