Are human beings more like gorillas or gods?
How we answer this question says a lot about how we see the world.
Paul Rosenberg makes a strong case that we’re likely about halfway between a gorilla and a god.
He says, the bigger question is what will we choose to incorporate into our lives? Gorilla things or God things?
Gorilla things include the desire to rule or dominate others, to show superiority or status, servility, avoidance of responsibility, reflexive criticism of anything new and abuse of the weak.
Godly things include invention and creativity, producing things that preserve or enhance life, showing gratitude and appreciation, adaptability and openness and the desire to improve yourself or help others improve.
Rosenberg points out that both primate and god-like qualities can be found in all of us. The takeaway is that each of us has a choice as to which direction we will move.
He puts it this way:
“Somehow, we’ve been given a choice between becoming gorillas or becoming gods. No other creatures in this world have been given such a choice.”
This means that what we are depends upon whether we are inviting gorilla things or god things into our lives.
Every single day, each of us has the option of defining our nature between two very different options.
If we want to improve the world around us, Rosenberg advises that we leave gorilla things to the gorillas and make building God stuff our daily job.
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