3 things that hit hard from Yuval Noah Harari's 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'

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'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind', published in 2014 (in English), was recommended to me by several friends for a decently long time. It was only in the middle of 2019 that I started reading it. It instantly took me by surprise. I was immediately engrossed to the point of spending sleepless nights. 

What was so unique about this book compared to every other book I have ever read? Why did I find it so fascinating? If you have read the book, heard about it, or even read the title of this article, it has become obvious to you at this point that it is a historical narrative. So, I must be interested in history? Yes, absolutely! But it's not an everyday history textbook. Now the question is, what is so different about this particular historical recount? Personally, I believe, that history as a whole is designed to give you a deeper, more meaningful perspective of the present. It is through a historical study that sometimes people learn to avoid common mistakes and eventually do better than it was done before. Correct? Sapiens to me is precisely that. It gave me a broader perspective of how our world is shaped, or to put it in different words how it has come to be the way it is. 

To present it to the uninitiated, I would quote a friend of mine who said it perfectly, 'It's a gem, for someone who is into anthropology and linguistics and demographics'. The book presents a historical summary of the evolution of humankind. Dr. Harari takes the reader on a ride right from the Big Bang traversing through migration, mass extinction, development of speech and communication, large groups of people co-ordinating to form societies, to society as we know it. There are strong and moving arguments about culture, religion, corporations, and humanity as a whole. 

Although, individuals from different backgrounds and outlook of the world, who are more capable than me of dissecting the ideas presented and performing a fact check have done their due diligence and such columns can be found on the internet and in print. This article, however, does not present a fact check in any way or form. I want to exhibit what moved me the most personally which is as follows, 

1) Mass Extinctions !!!!

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Akin to the generation I was born in, I from the bottom of my heart believe that we ('humans') being the more intelligent beings on the face of the earth, should 100% strive to save the endangered species of fellow animals. Not to mention the infuriating fact that we ('humans') are the sole reason for the endangerment of several species across the globe. Tigers, rhinos, polar bears, various magnificent mammals, insects, reptiles, amphibians, etc. due to last century hunting, present-day poaching, apparent medicinal reasons, climate change, destruction of vegetation, and all other modern-day reasons are now facing the threats of extinction. If you can think of any reason why and how one human can destroy the lives and generations of other animals, we ('humans') have probably done it. 

Before I read this book, I thought that only the modern-day homo sapiens are dumb enough to cause life threats to other animals (naive much?). In my mind, in the olden times (really really really old times, prehistoric :P) we did live harmoniously with nature (which we are a part of b.t.w.). My belief was totally shattered. Apparently, we have been the cause of mass extinctions and species endangerment since ages ago. We have never ever been in perfect harmony!!! 

"The moment the first hunter-gatherer set foot on an Australian beach was the moment that Homo sapiens climbed to the top rung in the food chain on a particular landmass and thereafter became the deadliest species in the annals of planet Earth."

Dr. Harari states that before homo sapiens arrived the Australian landmass was brimming with 200 Kg, 2 m wide Kangaroos, marsupial lions, tigers, giant koalas, birds, lizards, and snakes. These giants virtually vanished within a few 1000 years after the arrival of our ancestors. To be precise, according to Dr. Harari, 23 out of  24 Australian animal species weighing fifty kilograms or more became extinct. On the brighter side of things, homo sapiens were one of the few smaller animals to cross the ocean, leave the Afro-European landmass, and arrive at another shore. Progress? To which I wonder, has advancement ever taken place without harming someone or the other?  

2) Healthy, happy lifestyle: Pros and cons of the agricultural revolution. 

Are you a young person, by age or heart? Do you get affected by the current trends propagated through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media? Have you fallen prey to the live exercise and online yoga sessions during this lockdown? Do you feel that you are bombarded with adverts and billboards about healthy food choices and ecologically produced food? Welcome on board! We are all in this together. :) 

This is precisely the reason why I was amazed when Dr. Harari suggests, that we did not master agriculture, agriculture captured us! If you read the chapter on the agricultural revolution, you might or might not agree with the author. It is a tough argument and very debatable (read Bill Gate's Notes). Having said that, to my health hungry, exercising fellow sapiens reading this, I can note the following,  

• According to Dr. Harari, hunter-gatherers we supposedly healthy because their diets consisted of a wide variety of food items and changed on a day to day basis. Mainly depending on what they found to eat on that particular day. This allowed (forced? very circumstantial !?) them to consume all different kinds of vitamins and nutrients. Does the consumption of a wide variety of food make you healthy? Probably? Isn't this the precise idea behind all different balanced diets out there? 
• Not to mention, hunter-gatherers spent their time out in the open, walking, climbing, running, chasing, and, doing all kinds of physical activities. In contrast, most of us spend time at a desk job sitting, sitting, sitting, and then sitting some more all day, all week long. Exercise much? 
• We owe our carbohydrate and sugar craze to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Since food was not available in the supermarket next door, and carbs and sugar were found to be sustaining hunger pangs for a long time. Our ancestors developed the tendency to eat a lot of those sweet things they ever found in abundance. Well, thanks a ton! I cannot resist a cake for that reason! 

3) History Vs. Females. 

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I am a woman. I firmly believe in equality (read equal opportunity) for all. It is most astounding that Dr. Harari can present answers and explanations to some of the most complicated and mind-boggling events through history, but one! Why have women, as a part of every single society on this green-blue-beautiful planet of ours, being discriminated against? Why? More importantly, how and when did all the men on this earth communicate (even before modern-day mobile communication devices, emails, and chat services) and come to this common conclusion that everyone who does not have a particular part on their body does not hold the same standard, position, respect or place in the society?

The points of argument that are presented in the book are, 

• Women were designated to the jobs of child-birth. So our boon is our bane?
• Women are anatomically weaker? Maybe, maybe not, exceptions exist. 

Before the feminist in me starts rambling on and on and on, which will not be nice to read, I would like to quote the author himself, 

" Since patriarchy is so universal, it cannot be the product of some vicious circle that was kick-started by a chance occurrence. It is particularly noteworthy that even before 1492, most societies in both America and Afro-Asia were patriarchal, even though they had been out of contact for thousands of years. ....

... there is some universal biological reason why almost all cultures valued manhood over womanhood. We do not know what this reason is. There are plenty of theories, none of them convincing."

 It seems we cannot find any convincing explanation for this universal (hopefully limited to earth) inequality. The best way forward is to ensure we as homo sapiens of today, do not hold a conscious or subconscious bias against the less fortunate. 

There are a lot of other things that I really loved to read in this particular book, these were the 3 that hit me hardest. Thank you for reading :)  

 

 

Fickle Pickle.

In all men and women, high born, low born, noble, brave, trustworthy, dull, vile, or pompous, lies this little seed which we may call the warrior seed. It is fortunately for some is sown in their early days and for some, it has to be enforced in its place later. But it exists in everyone, silent as the moonless night passing through its due course of time until someone dares it awake. The factors which have the capacity to awaken it truly depends on the one who bears its burden. Once awaken it can cause a man or a nation to lose rationality of thought.

Unlike the warrior seed which is highly subject to individualistic passions, the same cannot be said about the unity of the country I was born in. The wise would know, that unity in large groups of men shines in the face of a mutual threat or an equally mutually respected leader. Just kings and pompous aristocrats have united my motherland since centuries. Unfortunately, the kings are gone, and the aristocrats are undone. We have had a common enemy once, which held the power to unite us, but alas, our unity defeated all. The all prevailing patriarchy unites almost half of my motherlands population in such a secret knot the other half is unable to resolve it. But in these perilous times when we march forward to take our rightful place in this great mythos of the world, we as a country almost willingly, and most would agree, rather distastefully have given the power to our unity in the hands of our most beloved neighbor (and I believe that this statement works for both sides of the line). Nothing more, nothing less unites us all into a single rhythm that our dear neighbor.

We claim to be a secular country, divided as it is. So many voices, so many opinions, dialects, voices, cries, claims, secrets, lies, hate, and love, held within, on one side by the sea and on the other side by some legitimate and some questionably expanding and shrinking borders. One thing now can be certainly said about my countrymen and women, that our neighbor holds a certain power over most of their warrior seeds. Whenever it (the neighbor) flinches, we have seen a sudden awakening and experienced a single rhythm in this vast secular land. Earlier, the warrior seed manifested in men to guard the borders and in women to uphold the civilization while men guarded the borders. Now, it sprouts over the internet first (not saying that the men of my country have become cowards) in vociferous quotations. Has every one of my countrymen truly come to make up their own opinion which was born out of self-contemplation of the facts presented, or do they follow the herd, who would know? Who is to be the judge of that? Have they always followed the herd or have held fickle opinions? Who has seen the data less past to compare it with the flood of opinions on the internet nowadays?

One thing which I have known to believe is that India was never a country of cowardice. The other thing that I have seen in the past few days is the rise of a war cry and the rise of peace cry, almost immediately when a war hysteria was delivered. Its almost as if the no one knows what they truly want. And if no one knows what they want, why does no one care to clear their own thoughts before burdening the internet with it? Who are we really fighting, our neighbor? self-created and catered free media? the people elected government? or our dull lives? The one fact that I have seen in the past few days is, a country full of so many engineers can really have a fickle brain (metaphorically)!

The legacy of my motherland has datalessly, and loudly, been told as those with brave men and women, and henceforth with proof and fact, it will be told (or silently status updated) of a huge group of fickle men and women who claimed to understand the machines. 

Secret.

It was born in an unfaithful hour, from a seemingly scandalous decision, due to an unchained desire, and incapacitated prefrontal cortex. Or was it born in the hour of ephemeral freedom, from yet a seemingly scandalous decision, prolonged suppression of some desire, and a raging heart on fire?

It remains unspoken, untold, unheard, only till it dies. It is secretly passed to the bosom of the trustworthy and uncaringly spent on those who do not seem to care. The anonymous existence of someone's not spoken words becomes an existential dilemma of someone else's anonymity. To be or not to be, is that the question? And still, it lives, waxes and wanes like the moon with its bane.

As time passes by, as the winds turn and the globe warms up towards its ends, this little secret might finds its way in the big bad world. It was kept in the shadows for too long. Now it wants to come out. Now it wants to be spoken, told and heard. It wants to burst out like the rain, probably shower on some like pain. It wants to occupy its rightful space, even if someone is left with no grace. It wants to sparkle like a star, startle like a flash of lightning and roar like a lion. But is it too late?

The secret you see has a very short life. It dies in years even if it lives on for centuries. Because the world doesn't care for some unsolicited act of defiance or rebel which now holds greater insignificance than a lions roar in the jungle heard from the chaos of the city. In the jungle, it might be impactful, but aren't even jungles being civilized?  It withers away, slowly, steadily and may or may not rest in peace. But now does anybody care?

But until it is reduced to nothingness and sucked out of its life's strength, it has to remain unspoken, untold and unheard. So humans can fathom the consequences of an unfaithful hour, a seemingly scandalous decision, some unchained some long-suppressed desires, an incapacitated prefrontal cortex, and a raging heart on fire.  

The boy in fair land.

There was a child, in a fair land. The land was wet, the land was dry. The land had friends, the land had foes. The land was growing on its tip-toes. The child was born, the child was small. He had few friends, he called them all. He called them to party, he called them to play. He called and called and he called them to stay. He shared his chocolates, he shared his games. He shared his heart with everyone one of them. He had his friends and they had him, together forever they all used to say.

A few years passed some friends were gone, the child was gone and there stood a boy. This boy was growing, the land was growing. The child grew fast, the land grew on its tip-toes. The boy that stood, had a few friends, some were old and so some were told. He called them to party and he called them to play. He called some to his home and some were kept away. He shared some pages and kept the books away, they shared some appetizers and kept the main course away. He shared his heart with very few who bargained their hearts for pleasures new. But he had his friends and they had him, together forever they still used to say.

A few years passed and most friends were gone, the boy was gone and there stood a man. The man was now in a faraway land. The man was growing, the fair land was growing. The man grew without the fair land, the land grew on its tip-toes. The man that stood had new friends, he now followed different trends. Someone in the past had bargained his heart, for some pleasure, for some pain. The man that stood now fought in wars. Wars of past, wars of the future. Some for survival some for revival. He had a few scars, he had a few friends. His friends fought the same adult wars. His new friends had scars, his old friend had scars. But none of them shared anything so far. They put their bodies on displays of perfection and hid their scars in godowns of neglection. They saw a perfect picture, they showed a perfect picture, but there were piles of scars till so so far. Only if one saw, only if one realized, only if one improvised. Only if remained only ifs. Perceptions of perfection melting through the glass of improvisations are somethings that remained hidden.

But the man had friends, and the friends had him. In a perceptively perfect land, they lived. He called them to party, he called them to play. He called and called but never to stay. He shared his experiences, but not his feelings. He shared his views, but not his thoughts. He has his friends and they have him, together forever now they never would say.

A thank you note

A four-leaf clover, a horseshoe charm, rabbit foot, goldfish, rainbows, dream catchers, to avoid misfortune an ugly evil eye and what not one collects. The things that we collect to bring luck, success prosperity and abundance. Deliberately turning our backs to things unseen, untouched. The things one can only feel and live through, with a brain in the right place. It belongs to no one, it works for no one, but the collective. Yet it cannot be called "communism" in this worlds sense. It is a part of you. It is a part of me. Flowing through your blood and mine, and all the veins that blood flows through. Upon the right hour, it raises its head, touches all the heart and goes back slowly to existing silently. To live through, as it has always lived there. To be passed on, as it was always passed on. To raise up once again, as it has through times immemorable. 

This letter does not mention any names on grounds of being unbiased and all-inclusive. It is open to interpretation. There will be several. There must be several. And it does so because there is an unselfish man who has a beautiful heart, there is a god who indulges the beautiful and there are stories from the one who indulges all. There is always the backend who everyone relies on. We also always have the sweetener to our desserts and the curator of our food. We have the man with untapped creative potential and the artists and wannabe artists. We have warm hearts from the coldest regions, dancers who beat professionals. We have music from generations, but a heart filled with passion who beats all. We have immeasurable support and uncountable helping hands. There are the ones who pray for us and the ones who bless us. 

We are one!

We are strong!

Hence, it will be wrong to call names. It will be so unfortunate to put people in boxes of their own qualities and not let their hearts explore the adventure of it all. What terrible boxes those would be! The canvas of life allows one to play so many roles, it paints your hearts and dreams. But its the most beautiful with all the colors. All one can hope is to be the best color at a time, adorn this picture and move on to the next with a different shade. Till one becomes a beautiful painting in itself. 

To all the humble hearts, I thank thee, with one hopefully equally humble. Isn't this wonderful that we move into the icy cold winters with warmth in our hearts?
I know that its all a little poetic!! Am I not allowed to be?  

The invention of Zero

Different views regarding the invention of the number 'Zero' exist. The ancient Egyptians are believed to have a decimal number system. 'Zero' is also said to be invented independently by different civilisations. India is also considered an independent inventor of 'Zero' and developer of Mathematics around it.  

The fact that who invented 'Zero' is not so important to the idea behind what made these civilisations invent it. And if some particular civilisations did, why couldn't others? It seems like a very obvious thing to account for non-existence when one is considering existence in finite terms (1,2,3...).

The key to the invention of the digit in question, lies deeper in the lifestyles of different civilisations. 

Lets consider two groups of people at present, 'Indians' and 'Germans'. 

Punctuality is a virtue in Germany. It is said that in the German way of life you own time, and you spend it. You are the sole authority of your resources and you use it at your will to achieve certain tasks. Individual is the focus in every situation. An Individual is the owner, doer and the person responsible for everything happening around him. 

Now lets consider the Indian style...

Lets make some counteracting points before we dwell deep into this. 

Indians are famous for not being punctual. There is a saying in India that everything starts at the 'Indian standard time', which is late than scheduled. Another common dialogue by any devout individual you might hear is, 'The God works through us and he has given us everything'. Also Indian tradition encourages to search for the 'God' (read goodness) in everyone. Thus, an Indian mind does not possess time, nor the resources accessible to him. He/She performs actions and dedicates them to the Higher Authorities.

When Alexander the great meets a naked sage on the banks o river Indus, he offers the sage gold and gems and all the luxury in the world. But the sage replies that he has no use of any such things. Whatever he has or had, he did not acquire it, it did not belong to him nor is he going to retain it. He replies that the universe gives us things and it takes those things away. The existence of an individual does not make some things belong to the individual. Alexander on the contrary came from a different line of thought that a person had to earn everything in his one life and everything that he earned belonged to him. He believed that every person must work to make this one life rich and worth to have lived. While the Sage believed that this life is just a part of a big cycle and it has to do its role on the big canvas. 

These contrasting belief systems, according to me determined the invention of zero. Where in some civilisations the idea that the individual holds nothing and does nothing according to his own accord are imbibed. The ideas of ownership and belonging are the key to other. The idea of nothingness, non-existence or not non-possessiveness gave rise to the invention of 'Zero'. And the lack of such a ideology led others to be completely unaware of a digit. Thus, the invention of zero represents more a bridge from philosophy to mathematics and a little less the advanced mathematical concepts it enables the mankind to perform. :) 

 

To all the Independent ones...!!

Date: 15th August 2016

Happy Independence Day!

Its a funny word 'Independence'. India got independence on 15th August 1947.

Does India realize what it means? 

Does Independence mean the right to choose our own government?

Does it mean having a right to put forward your opinions?

Does it mean having the right to choose your profession or house or life partner or anything that an independent individual might ever want?

or it simply means having the option to choose what you want?

A child is independent to move around when he learns to walk. It is independent to voice his views when he learns to talk. A person becomes financially independent when he starts to earn. He/She is free to love, free to laugh, free to care in an independent country. 

But how much do we really understand what independence means to us as a country or as an individual ourselves...

We are free to choose our careers...yet we take the most traveled path!

We are free to speak...yet we hesitate in public!

We are free to feel good about ourselves...yet most of us are dependent on the opinions of others.

Most of us, emotionally dependent, on someone who has no idea what your emotions are, because we ourselves don't know exactly what they are!

We feel vulnerable talking about what we feel...like its some deep secret in our brains!

This independence day lets take a  step in knowing ourselves better, for the sake of the people we love and for the people who love us! 

This is to knowing what independence means to us and why is it so important to us...and not just for the country independent country but as an independent human being!

Lets go deep into ourselves and dig out the most important person you don't know. :)