Does it affect the survival of humanity? The background behind conflicting ideas * Why are there differences? Humans become aware of their existence through their five senses, and in the process, the brain determines whether something is the same or different based on input from the five senses. The human brain can detect these differences. Not everyone notices differences in the same way, but those who do can share information so that others can also learn about these differences. For example, the eyes are organs that perceive shape, size, color, etc., and we become aware that objects come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. This information is provided (taught) through parental guidance and school education. Through learning, we acquire knowledge of concepts such as “big,” “small,” “long,” and “short,” and even if we are not consciously aware of it, we learn and utilize these differences. Even when taught, noticing differences is possible because the brain has the function of comparing or contrasting. From noticing differences, humans begin to compare or contrast things using language, creating values to represent the worth of it, and using those values as criteria for evaluation and selection. Could all of humanity's opposing perceptions and expressions of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, happy and sad, fortunate and unfortunate, have been created by this function of the brain? Could this be the background behind human's tendency to assign superiority and inferiority to everything in the world, and the reason why everything is decided by winning or losing? Could the desire to satisfy a sense of superiority stem from this act of comparison? It seems that the reason competition exists in everything in the human world is because of this act of comparison. In academics, we strive to be the best in our grades. In sports, we decide who wins and who loses, and who is the most talented. In the political world, we try to decide who wins and who loses through majority rule. The economic world is also a competitive world. Why are we so obsessed with winning? * Is it because we learned the concept of survival of the fittest from nature in ancient times? In nature, it seems that the strong win, the weak lose, and the weak are eaten. If you are not strong, you will lose. To survive, you must win. You must be strong. In the past, the lion, the king of beasts, was seen as a symbol of strength. Everyone aspired to be like Superman. To win and become an outstanding person, they sought power. To become part of the winning group, early childhood education and higher education became important. To enter better high schools, universities, and companies, and to gain wealth and fame, it was believed that the power to be outstanding was necessary. This seems to be the backdrop for seeking a sense of superiority. However, is there a mistake somewhere in this human way of thinking? The lion, once called the king of beasts, is now an endangered species. Strong weapons have become a force capable of destroying humanity. Humans have believed that the strong win and the weak lose, but is there a flaw in this thinking? In nature, there is no such thing as strong or weak. Yet, it seems to exist among humans. Why does it seem to exist? Humans have come to notice differences, compare, evaluate, and judge, but there are many things we do not know, and we have unknowingly created mistaken beliefs. In nature, there is no concept of winning or losing as it exists in the human world. There is no beauty or ugliness. There is no good or bad. Insects, fish, birds, and other living beings kill and eat other living beings to survive, but they do not possess human concepts such as hostility, hatred, or the intent to kill. These living beings exist through genes and programs and fundamentally lack the ability to think like humans. Until recently, humans did not know that life forms are created by genetic programs. We did not know that humans were also created by the human genome. The difference between humans and other life forms lies in the differences in their genes and programs. Some people may realize that it is wrong to think that humans are superior to other living beings based on this fact (the genetic program). The idea of superiority comes from human evaluation and judgment, but that ability is not something humans created themselves. The values that form the basis of human evaluation and judgment are created as part of perception. They are created by the brain's thoughts as part of human perception and consciousness. Beautiful and ugly, good and bad, happy and sad, good and evil, happy and unhappy, difficult and easy, complex and simple, war and peace, giving and taking, agreeing and disagreeing, winners and losers — all of these are concepts created by human evaluation and judgment. In other words, these concepts do not exist without comparison and have no substance. “Making the non-existent exist” is an expression created by the human brain through language. Entities perceived through the five senses are recognized as facts. However, when evaluated and judged based on human values, the entity becomes something different. The fact changes. The values created so far vary depending on each person's perspective. Even if one person finds a flower beautiful and another finds a cockroach ugly, people's perceptions differ. Different people make different judgments about the same thing, such as beautiful and ugly or good and bad. Even among the same people, they are divided into enemies and allies in war. People are discriminated against or discriminate against others based on differences in race. Unless humans change the criteria and perspectives they have unilaterally and arbitrarily established for evaluation and judgment, attempting to determine victory or defeat—including wars—and acting under the belief that one is correct, may be irreparable. Herein lies the reason why it is necessary to understand the facts of the universe and nature as they are, and to cultivate thoughts that harmonize with those facts. Is it not necessary for human beings to survive by considering and creating new values that are common to all of humanity and all intelligent life forms in the universe? New values are created by changing existing ways of thinking. Beauty exists because ugliness exists. Ugliness exists because beauty exists. This is an expression of recognizing differences and contrasting ideas through words However, there are no human evaluations or judgments in the universe or nature as they truly are. It is necessary for human evaluation and judgment to harmonize with reality. Because there are changes and differences, humans judge what is beautiful or ugly, but while the brain recognizes differences, values are created by humans. I believe this is the essence of the problem humanity faces. Humans need to create new ways of thinking. Michael Aleph July 2025