ONE TRUE GOD

Indian slum.

There is one true god which drives all humanity. That god is survival. 

Those who are religious subscribe to ancient systems which evolved to explain (or control) consciousness and its relation to physical reality. The afterlife, a belief of most religions, is an extension of human consciousness beyond physical survival. It has been a major motivator for people to accept and follow beliefs which often contradict rational thought, practicality or progress. Survival, even after it is impossible, reigns supreme as a human goal. 

Human beings whose brains/bodies are programmed genetically to reproduce do so with a belief that they will survive their individual deaths in the lives of their replicates (children). This is so deeply planted in that form of human consciousness that some of the brightest scientists and philosophers will trot this concept out in debate. Their educated minds must be aware that biological death entails the death of brain activity and consciousness, yet their need to believe in the god of survival persists and overrides. 

The current irrationality of the response of many European leaders to a migrant invasion has paralyzed that continent's actions for its citizens' own interests. Why? Because identification with the prime directive of survival among the migrants automatically overrides the rationality which has defined European prosperity. 

The extreme pro-life philosophy of many religious people is a perverted form of survival worship. Identifying with a cluster of cells has driven some of these people to assassinate educated and compassionate physicians. The obvious impact of human overpopulation is invisible to them. They cannot see past their obsession with survival as a prime directive of existence. 

So, how far have we evolved as a species, if survival still trumps quality of life? How far can we continue to evolve as a species if unintentional reproduction, linked with survival instincts, is allowed to overpopulate the planet with a vast majority of poor and uneducated human beings? How far can artificial intelligence go to save us from ourselves?