Intelligence and Power vs. Love in “The Sixth Finger” In The Outer Limits episode “The Sixth Finger,” humans strive for success and power; they will do whatever it takes to be the best and most powerful. There is a professor that had created a mass-destruction weapon, but came to realize that he wanted to make the world a better place. There is also a coal miner that has been in a science experiment who wanted more knowledge and power; which resulted in losing his identity and soul. Mankind’s goal for power makes them unsatisfied because it is never enough and for this reason they start to drift away from reality. The Outer Limits episode “The Sixth Finger,” Written by Ellis St. Joseph argues that human’s thirst for power causes their unsatisfied nature which restrains them from finding satisfaction and happiness. The film also argues that over reliance on science instead of one’s own intelligence could lead to the loss of one’s identity and soul. The film finally argues that there is no greater power than human love; which is capable of saving the soul of humans. The Outer Limits episode, “The Sixth Finger,” Written by Ellis St. Joseph argues that human’s thirst for power causes their unsatisfied nature which restrains them from finding satisfaction and happiness. This is similar to what professor Mather’s has experienced; he regrets his past life creating destructive weapons, and now he is trying to make himself and the world around him a peaceful place by creating “the man of the future” who “could rise above animal passions that lead to violence and self-destruction and develop the intelligence that’s necessary for a peaceful and civilized co-existence” (The Sixth Finger). He wants life to progress by making war obsolete. However, human sufferings are what make mankind to become a resilient species which will make them more likely to survive in the future. This is a story of a desperate man that once had the power to create something that could destroy the world, but his new goal was to create a more intelligent being that was resistant to impulses if violence and the monkey served as the prototype. Professor Mather hopes to lead mankind into a civilized and peaceful evolution by creating a “self-generating force” that is capable of “mutating under its own impetus” (The Sixth Finger). Professor Mather’s research leads him to create an ape almost as intelligent as a human being, which could do extraordinary things that no other ape had the abilities to do. His only wish was to create a peaceful place for mankind to live, a place with happiness, a peaceful environment where everyone is equal. Professor Mather first tried to obtain power by creating destructive weaponry; however now he is trying to obtain power by creating a peaceful world. Power is everything, it is humans’ nature to strive for power, but no matter how much power they possess they will always be unsatisfied and want more than what they already have.
The film also argues that overreliance on science instead of one’s own intelligence could lead to the loss of one’s identity and soul. Gwillim was part of Professor Mather’s science experiment, but soon after the experiment he had lost his identity and wanted to “see [his] whole town utterly destroyed” Gwillim think that humans’ are “no more advanced than a monkey” and will never “become civilized for another million years” (The Sixth Finger). Gwillim has lost his humanity to satisfy his thirst for ultimate knowledge. He loses touch with humanity by declaring that they would never become civilized and he begins to see them as expendables. It is ironic how his hate for humanity grows as he learns more about mankind’s history and behavior. As Gwillim’s knowledge about mankind grew, he began to see them as a “race too prejudiced to tolerate any differences from its own kind” and he had no hope to prevent mankind from any further “struggles for petty comfort and false security” (The Sixth Finger). He