While considering the concept of Adam I and Adam II David Brooks mentions in his book “The Road to Character”, what interesting is the fact that many people don’t even realize the significance of developing their own Adam II in life. 

As humans, we often care more about how we are judged by others than who we actually are. We live in a society where every one veils their faces with disparate personae working as an auspices which covers their true selves with impervious masks. We are not what we are is the principle that lies behind. Indeed, we live in a world without consciousness; we do everything to make us feel good or look good, without even knowing what actually is good. Urged by the avarice, fear, and self-interests, our society is completely built up by egocentrism. Lost in the world of ambitions, we raptly follow things we heard or are told instead of what we see or feel. Yes, it’s true that achieving that type of success is important. As humans who only experience lifetime once, we are mortal. This chance of becoming success would be given only once. But the thing is, how could we define success? Does becoming successful really means we’ve succeeded? In other words, does success only accompanies with the gains of money, status, or power? It seems to suggest that. But extremity would always lead to devastation, same for the humans. 

In retrospect of our history, almost every war was agitated by people’s rapacity, their dissatisfaction. People longed more than the world could afford, so when it reached to a threshold, wars were ignited. If we look at the extant people, we are still the same as before. The characteristics of Adam I have been shown on almost every one of us. We strive for success, by winning, competing, and caviling. We use our mind to calculate everything in life - the best school we could go, the best degree we could earn, the best job we could get, and even who we could need to friends with. Our logic seems to be clear: we seek for everything that brings benefit, that would help us to succeed. But what comes after that, after we’ve achieved that “success” and seems to become august, is what we’ve never ruminated. Once again, here comes to the question of the true meaning of success. The success that we fulfill now always has to be consummated at the expense of one’s morality. As the ambition grow, the our horizon shrink. We’ve grown up on this blood-washed planet, seeing our ancestors fighting against each other, and now we’re resuscitating this gamut of crimes. The success shouldn’t just be like that. 

When we think of the differences between humans and AI, the most distinct one must be the consciousness that we’ve been holding. Human beings are not simple an assemblage of minds, as AI which is just a holder of thoughts made up artificially. We have hearts, and most importantly, souls, which grant our lives meanings. We are not walk-shells or carriers but creators and thinkers. We have feelings, ineffable but nonpareil, which give us the capability to be humanized, distinct from other creatures. While holding the light, we’re not afraid of the dark. That’s what Adam II offers. Adam I provides the strength for humans to keep moving forward within their lives, but Adam II tells us which direction we should go. While missing in the reality, we could always be brought back by that pure land inside our hearts, shown us the path we’ve taken. That’s why Adam II makes us who we are. In the world of turmoil, it is this pureness that reminds every one of us the purpose of living, the essence of life. Illusions could belie the truth, but the nature would eventually be disclosed. Our life is a mix of these two, and finding the balance between them is what we need to do on the way. 

Our minds are essential, but our souls are indispensable.