Jonathan Hranek
Dr. Adam Johns
English Composition 0200
29 October 2014
On Intelligence and Hierarchies
Hierarchies are visible constantly in daily life, whether
within jobs, classes, or society. There are always factors that lead to
competition, and it is this competitive edge that drives human capacities for
learning and understanding evermore into the depths of the unknown and
unexplored. However, the Oankali within Octavia Butler’s “Lilith’s Brood” disagree
wholeheartedly. Although incorrect, they argue that the very hierarchical
structure that defines everything humans know, is actually the greatest
downfall to their society.
According to the Oankali, the two fatal flaws of humans
are intelligence and the hierarchies that are so natural and present in the environment.
One alone, they say, could be useful and possibly even successful, but the two genetic
characteristics combined are a terrible mixture. This all comes down to the
fact that both lead to further competition between peoples. Intelligence allows
a person to perceive when he or she is being cheated by belonging to a lesser
hierarchy, and therefore stimulates that person and gives them the desire to
climb the ladder of society and go as high as possible. Through intelligence,
people are given the ability to ignore the flaws in the structural hierarchy. This
could possibly be the most dangerous aspect of the structure because it prevents
individuals from seeing the inequalities that are the results of a hierarchy. By
always providing people with a dream of being more successful, those very same
people will then compete for better jobs, therefore impacting their friendships
and relationships with other people. These two characteristics only lead to
more strife between people and factions. In this way, it is almost like humans
are the perfect species to kill themselves because society is always trying to
one-up its competitors. By constantly attempting to out-do one another, tensions
can rise and lead to conflict.
The views of the Oankali are presented through a message
of warning conveyed in the shape of simple observations. This cautioning information
advises to tread carefully where intelligence and hierarchies are mixed, as it
can lead to the destruction of human society and humanity as a whole. However, this is simply not true. The Oankali
are extremely biased due to their inability to relate to humans. They believe
it to be a downfall to humanity if intelligence and hierarchies are
intertwined. Contrary to what they think, intelligence and hierarchies are the
foundation to every major change in human history. There are certainly
downsides to both aspects of the characteristics, but without them, people
would neither have the desire to progress, nor the ability to do so. Intelligence
gives people the chance to climb the social ladder while the hierarchical
structure makes them realize where they are and gives them the drive to get to where
they need to be.
Although the Oankali believe that the two genetic
characteristics of hierarchy and intelligence are fatal when put together, they
are simply incorrect. Without these two features of humanity driving each
other, progress could never have been made. Conflict may arise, but the overall
benefits of a competitive environment are necessary to further growth and development,
and therefore outweigh the potential dangers. In this way, the limitations of a
hierarchy and intelligence are not ignored, but accepted.
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia E. Lilith's Brood. New
York: Aspect/Warner, 2000. Print.
This introduction is probably your best one. I think there’s danger of a mistake here, because the Oankali understand the human society is driven by hierarchy, but the *also* argue that this drive bears the seeds of doom - I think you are missing some of the subtlety there, but I might be mistaken.
ReplyDeleteYour 2nd paragraph might be a longer than it needs to be, but certainly you understand the Oankali critique of “the human contradiction.”
The problem in the 3rd paragraph is that the Oankali would agree with 100% of the following: “Contrary to what they think, intelligence and hierarchies are the foundation to every major change in human history. There are certainly downsides to both aspects of the characteristics, but without them, people would neither have the desire to progress, nor the ability to do so. Intelligence gives people the chance to climb the social ladder while the hierarchical structure makes them realize where they are and gives them the drive to get to where they need to be.” They would simply add a couple sentences: “These human drives lead inevitably to ever more sophisticated technology and institutions, which are inevitably used to advance the needs of hierarchical struggle. Therefore, apocalyptic warfare is, over the long run, inevitable.”
In other words, you perfectly understand the Oankali, and not at the same time. Human progress contains the seeds of human contradiction; the source of all human potential is also, ultimately, suicidal. Hence we aren’t able to restrain ourselves where, e.g., nuclear arms or global warming is concerned - because our first need is always to compete.
I think the issue here is that you simply didn’t read carefully enough to understand that their argument is a little more complicated than you make it out to be - although also, in all fairness, this stuff is easier to understand as it becomes fleshed out over the next several hundred pages. So you’re oversimplifying, but that’s a lot easier to do at this stage.