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Jenab Virk sahib
Thank you so much for studying
the essay so critically and from different angles. You have the right and
privilege to agree or disagree with the ideas presented. Actually it is
really some disagreement that adds spice to the whole discussion. You have
really been courteous and discreet and have not been completely annoyed, as
some others have felt. I have also been accused of ‘misuse and
misinterpretation of well established areas of science and
philosophy’. That I may have seen
and observed scientific facts and theories in a different light is
possible, but have not distorted any facts.
Your observation of humans is
entirely your prerogative and cannot be contested. The judgment you make,
depends on your independent opinion, based on the basis of comparison and
your frame of reference. My own contention is that humans are basically
animals and have evolved from them. Their main difference is their
intellect, and this intellect is a result of evolution over other species.
Intellect gives humans the ability to control and direct their affairs. It
also provides them a relatively greater freedom and independence. If you
think these abilities are an improvement over the animal phase then surely
they must be superior. If this is not a positive attribute, then they are
surely not an improvement over the rest of the species. But if humans have
evolved, which it seems they have, then they are
probably superior. It is to be noted that since humans are basically of an
animal origin, they will continue to exhibit those traits, with little room
to evolve at the level of physique. Their major evolutionary advances are
likely to come about at the level of mind and intellect. Science contends
that man has as yet utilized only a small portion of the capability, and
there is room for much improvement. All this makes me optimistic about the
future of the human race.
Drawing inference from the above
line of reasoning, I feel that metaphysics ( thought
and intellect) is perhaps the more powerful instrument in the human psyche
than physique (physical existence).
The premise of the essay is
basically free thought. It was therefore made explicitly clear that it is
no scientific paper, and that it was based on conjecture and derived logic.
The whole idea was to lay a base for discussion and debate, and to provoke
thoughts and ideas. If I have managed to do that, I feel my motive is
fulfilled.
With Kind regards
Ziauddin
Ahmed
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