The Special Human

Of the 8 billion clamoring the ailing planet, there is less than 1% who are special. Perhaps an evolutionary quirk, they leave the dominant objective function of self-preservation and gene transmission. Instead they seek utility by helping others, often in small acts and they go great lengths to hide their actions. It is unclear if such altruism had evolutionary benefits. It is counterintuitive - it is possible that it had evolutionary disbenefits.

Homo Sapiens appear quirky. They have been very successful but not using the same traits they evolved from. Clearly many animals - rats, monkeys and elephants, show higher levels of societal sophistication and empathy. Most humans don’t but a small percentage go much further. This is a puzzling observation, that may challenge the well accepted hypothesis of a common origin. Humans, in general, have been violent and they certainly eliminated over a dozen equivalent species by attacking them. That makes sense in the context of basic objectives of animals. But it certainly does not portend altruism. So, what gives? What makes the 1% special?. Is it possible they had a different origin or more speculatively, an ET connection of some sort? It is clearly suboptimal for self and there has to be something outside we understand to make it rational.

Humans, the only interesting characteristic about them is the the variety they demonstrate. It is likely that they have similar physical characteristics but very different brains.