The root cause of most man-made problems can be easily traced to the foolish notion among many about their apparent monopoly of intelligence. This is true whether it is among individuals, communities, nations or even humanity as a whole. Most individuals believe that they are more intelligent than others in their group and same is the case with communities and nations. And very often we unanimously conclude that Man is the most intelligent of all living species and humanity as a whole posses the complete monopoly of intelligence in this entire universe. The essential faculty of empathy is missing in an increasing number of people in our society and many refuse to consider even the remote possibility of a rival being as much intelligent, if not more. The inevitable fall out of resultant interactions is generation of bad blood and loss of faith among fellow beings. 

As individuals, we often forget the simple fact that we are just one among six billion others of similar nature. In a smaller environment we indulge in one-upmanship with our co-workers and refuse to empathize with others in difficult situations. In many cases it may not be necessary to offer any help and all that is needed is to leave others alone. But there are many who refuse to do even that. It has become our second nature to delight in knowing everything about others and at the same time getting agitated when others try to do the same with us. In a civilized society it has become acceptable practice for media people to spy on public men and that is the price to be paid by anyone eyeing for fame and power. But there is no justification for anyone doing the same with strictly private people. And very often those peepers do it under the false notion that others are not intelligent enough to understand their 'smart' ways. Little do they realize that sometimes they see only what is deliberately shown to them by smarter ones. 

As communities, many of the organized ones come to believe about their monopoly of intelligence when dealing with less organized ones. Systematic brain washing of mute followers by professional preachers of such communities infuses a false sense of superiority. Leaders of such communities are past masters in the game of running sympathetically with the hares when they are actually hunting with the hounds. In liberal democracies like India these organized communities reach their heights of deception. Habitual boozers clamoring for prohibition to wipe out the livelihood of natives dealing with locally made liquor and organizers of seminars on population control secretly advising their own folk to opt for the third child under the excuse of religious sanctions against abortion are classic examples of this. Some others indulge in arranging systematic migration of their folk to exterminate the poor tribal population just because they are the most difficult to convert. Organized propaganda to establish the ancient vintage of their beliefs by repeated celebrations about visit of some fictitious Saints, bringing with them all that is good with us now, indicates the nadir of deception by the most organized community in India today. Then they go on to blow up the inherent differences within rival communities and fish for souls in troubled waters with the bait of charity. Monopoly of intelligence makes them blind about the capability of others in seeing through their games. 

As nations, it is not uncommon to find people from the so-called developed ones nurturing false notions about their racial superiority in terms of brains and brawns. Human history has given enough evidence against the myth of racial superiority. But even today some nations believe in their inherent rights to dictate others. In order to hide their real intentions they resort to manipulations and deceit under their belief in monopoly of intelligence. Occupying an oil rich country with the declared intention of 'liberating' humanity from terrorism cannot be explained in any other way. Creating evil phantoms in unknown worlds and justifying all their adventures as hot pursuits of these evils is becoming a favorite ploy of the rich and powerful nations. 

As humanity, there are several among us who believe in the superiority of Man. For them, Man is the best creation of God and everything else is created for his use. What can be more ridiculous when we know for sure that the same Man is totally helpless in the event of a natural calamity? An ant might survive a massive earthquake but most men will perish in it even if he happens to be the ruler. Within our limited domain of knowledge, perhaps it is true that Man has certain unique capabilities that enable him to rule over other species. But to stretch it to the limits of believing in his primacy in the universe is foolish. It is still possible that we may come across much more developed and intelligent creatures in another planet or galaxy or even another universe. Or perhaps 'they' are aware of us and are keeping away deliberately.