RIGHTEOUS-RIGHT

Help one another in righteousness and pity; but do not help one another in sin and rancor (Q.5:2). The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. (Edmond Burke). Oh! What a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! (Walter Scott, Marmion VI). If you are not part of the solution …. Then you are part of the problem. War leaves no victors, only victims. … Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; it is our gift to each other.– Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

  Human Brain: Human nervous system has two main parts: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord.  The peripheral nervous system is designed on the nerves that carry impulses to and from the central nervous system. In human the brain is especially large and well developed. During its development the nervous system undergoes remarkable changes to attain its complex organization.  In order to produce the estimated one trillion neurons present in a mature brain, an average of 2.5 million neurons must be generated per minute during the entire prenatal life. The typical brain of a full-term infant weighs 350 grams (12 ounces) at birth and about 1,500 grams at adulthood. By the age of 75, the weight of the brain is reduced from its maximum at maturity by about one-tenth, the flow of blood through the brain by almost one-fifth, and the number of functional taste buds by about two-thirds.  A loss of neurons does not necessarily imply a comparable loss of function.

The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. The brain is encased in a bony vault, while the cylindrical and elongated spinal cord lies in the vertebral canal, which is formed by successive vertebrae connected by dense ligaments. The brain is a relatively small organ, weighing about 1,500 grams and constituting about 2 percent of total body weight.

Human Mind is the ultimate entity of life, which receives and computes all messages transmitted to it by the five senses through the human brain.  Mind is not just another name for the brain.  It transcends the brain and manipulates its operation.

The mind is the ultimate seat of consciousness.  Deductive logic is the most amazing faculty of mind.  Even when there are no facts fed to it through senses, it may continue to operate with hypothetical data or over the previously stored data. All decision making is done at the level of the mind, while the brain is merely a material hardware, a storehouse of memory.  This enables mind to contemplate upon metaphysical and scientifically illogical issues like infinity, eternity and life-after-death. Thus the mind learns to believe in the unseen entirely through hypothetical exercises, while at other times it examines material data and draws logical conclusions from them.  It can visualize all forms of radiation which coexist with us, but we cannot learn their presence through our five live senses. Such images of the mind deduced from hypothetical concepts can be seen and heard when we transmit them in readable or audible or watchable resources, like tv, radio or written paper.  Many an unseen meaning is added to the visible scene by the mind, before it is finally developed into a meaningful concept. A glaring example is the dream we see in sleep and the world we see awaken.

Spirituality of Human Mind: Our sense perception is not without error in reaching conclusion of the truth. Our sense of sight, the strongest in our senses, sees a shadow of a stick or a pillar standing still and motionless and draws a conclusion that shadows do not move. It proves wrong when we see the shadow after an hour. Similar is the case of stars in the night sky. They look equal to a quarter-dollar coin, but in truth, some are bigger in size than our earth. 

The hidden knowledge of the unseen phenomenon is accessible through revelation and inspiration of human mind.  But the faculty of mind and intelligence of mind have their own limitations too.  Human mind cannot transcend time and space.  Hence all such knowledge as lies beyond the reach of human intelligence can only be reached by means of Divine revelation given to whomsoever Almighty desires.  The Scriptures guide us saying: “He (alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His mysteries; Except a messenger whom He has chosen.” (Q.72:26-27). “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His.” (Daniel 2:20).

This exclusiveness of transcendent knowledge granted to the prophets relates largely to the field of spiritual knowledge and to the knowledge about life after death.  The world of the unknown is limitless and fathomless, yet man will always be permitted an access to it, but in measured proportions according limits of time and space of the man concerned.

Human intelligence is the intellectual capacity of human being, which is characterized by perception, consciousness, self-awareness, and volition. Through intelligence, man possesses the cognitive abilities to learn, form concepts, understand, apply logic, and reason, including the capacities to recognize patterns, comprehend ideas, plan, problem solve, make decisions, retaining, and use language to communicate. Intelligence enables humans to experience and think.

Human intelligence is the only faculty which is unique to human only. Animals, birds, fish, reptiles and all such creatures possess the faculties of brain and sense-perception of mind, but not intelligence. They have full perception how to get their food, how to survive and how to protect from dangers of their environs. But they don’t know how to compute scientific or social data to reach to a conclusion.  Brain and Mind can know that 3 is less than 6 but they cannot know what is the relation among different figures, such as 3, 6, 10, 15, 21 and beyond. This can be computed by Intelligence only.

 Edited:  Israr Hasan       
Email: ihasanfaq@yahoo.com                                                          

No comments:

Post a Comment