Is “Man the Wise” a Misnomer?

We are less intelligent than we think we are. At best, we only see reality filtered through a fog of preconceived notions. Often, we are completely blinded by ideology, the steel box of ideas that define our in-group. We created the atomic bomb and landed on the moon, but those spectacular achievements weren’t the result of philosophical speculation. Neither could have been achieved without many experiments, many mistakes, and much stumbling in the dark. We have accomplished a great deal more with our brains than any other animal on the planet, but the comparison is merely relative. Our reason must still navigate through a sea of emotions and predispositions whose influence we are aware of only vaguely if at all. We don’t experience reality in itself, but only a fragment of it. We don’t perceive the fundamental nature of space and time. Rather, we perceive space and time in the manner that has been most effective in promoting our survival. It has not been necessary for us to truly understand what they are to survive. It has merely been necessary for us to navigate through them effectively. Apparently, our manner of perceiving space and time has been effective. After all, we have survived; we are still here. However, the framework we have been given presents us with certain logical difficulties, in the form of infinities. It seems to us that space and time must go on forever. Infinities are messy things. In this case they are a clue that, while space and time correspond to something real, we don’t understand that reality.