Humanity has a moral obligation to be intelligent. Around the world, the dominant societies promoted the idea of intelligence being the gateway to happiness. The intellectual forthcoming of one help advance to culture as a whole. For generations, we as members of modern societies have wholeheartedly accepted the morals which we were born into and nurtured through education and learning. Today the average person is brought up being told that they need to do their part so they may eventually grow to be a functioning and helpful member of society. Most people do not question why this is or how in a world that hardly believe in predetermined destiny, our path is chosen for us based on our class and atmosphere, leaving little room for choices which lead us off the beaten path. Especially in modern times where globalization seems to have shrunk the world due to our interconnectedness; people seem to forget that there are indeed different walks of life. The Penan tribe who resides in Borneo still migrates and lives off the land. They embrace the ways of the forest and live like their ancestors did, among nature not using it. It seems strange that they chose this life, but it isn’t a choice for them, it is a way of being. Wisdoms that modern people have since forgotten about like hunting, gathering, animal tracking, and plant medicine are dexterities which the city folk who do not live off the land have dispelled. The Huaorani tribe who dwell in the northeastern forest of Ecuador still utilize many skills that are deemed dated by modern society. Hunters of the Huaorani could smell animal urine from forty paces away and accurately label the species that left the feces. This skill holds no value to a businessman in New York or a musician in London but it can determine if a family of the Huaorani will eat that week. It is these skills and cultures that the dominant societies deem unintelligent and seek to spread education throughout these regions.


Through the spread of one set of ideals, the next generations will form the same morals and thus the world will blend into a cultural monotony. So we must ask ourselves, “Do we want to live in a monochromatic world of monotony or do we want to embrace a polychromatic world of diversity?” Though the question seems simple enough to answer, in reality through spreading education we are creating monotony. How do we know that spreading our beliefs will result in a positive outcome? In the reading, The Moral Obligation To Be Intelligent, John Erskine puzzled the value of intelligence. If humans are born into our morals, is it not true many different codes of virtue have been devised. Yet if that is so, why do we as a society preach hypocritical open mindedness. However, if humans were raised into our morals then it is not our fault that we were born flawed and developed as a hypocrite. Even further if we do not possess intelligence, how can we evaluate our values? Once we evaluate our values and gain a perspective on the world around us, does the burden of knowing fall on our shoulders? Many argue that knowledge brings about positive change and influence, while others argue that the gift of knowledge only leads to evils and rebellions. However, the problem may be how society labels intelligence. In the advanced societies, intelligence is recognition and problem solving. But in rural cultures intelligence may be knowing survival skills. By wishing to spread education are we spreading burdens of the world to blissfully unaware people. So as a result, is society spreading the previously proclaimed evils of the world to the unsuspecting people? If humans truly believe that they can help these non advanced cultures through education yet they feel that intelligence is the root of evil, are humans complete hypocrites? These questions do not fall on merely one human to answer or determine the morality. However, it is up to the individual to determine, perhaps through intelligence, where they stand on the issue. This is our moral obligation to be intelligent.