3 Absurdities of Our Development

No harsh critics or rants — just an attempt to understand the incomprehensible.

Reading Yuval Noah Harari’s books is undoubtedly a thought-provoking experience filled with hundreds of “Wow!”s and aha-moments that can also lead to some sleepless nights. Here is a train of thought that was born during one of those ‘racing brain nights’ triggered by the popular historian and philosopher’s work.

Objective reality is ruled by our fantasy

What made our ancestors stand out from the animal kingdom and conquer the world? The ability to communicate about imaginary things. This huge cognitive advantage enabled humans to create myths, empires and religions, thus connecting big crowds and encouraging them to cooperate. Money, corporations, laws, sanctions, human rights, equality and inequality, power, freedom, courage, responsibility, truth, morals and many more concepts like these are products of our fantasies.

There is something that impresses and unsettles me at the same time: the fact that the fate of objectively existing entities like you, me, and all the other human beings, as well as animals, plants, buildings, books and all the objects in this world are under the rule of abstract, intangible entities born in our imagination.

And there is a rather confusing phenomenon in regards to our thinking and behaviour. Those who call suicide bombers or people of North Korea brainwashed, might not realize that they themselves are living in a bubble of constant manipulation, too, but in another context, in a different way and for different reasons.

Modern societies tend to condemn, or at least look down on shamanism and other religious practices, yet they would not admit that political and economical ideologies are just like religions –– fictions. Think about it: most of us became puppets of the capitalist giant machinery since human collaboration in the field of economy is driven by the belief that “the cake will be bigger”.

As Harari explains in his first best-seller Sapiens — A Brief History of Humankind, societies have been trying for millennia to restrain and somehow balance individual desires. Since individuals always wanted more and more, societies had to regulate those desires, simply because the cake was limited. Modernity then turned the world upside down by convincing human communities that balance is far more terrifying than chaos, and that since growth is fueled by greed, greed is actually good.

By breaking down ancient principles that had held greed back, capitalism actually sanctified a greedy and chaotic system that is growing at a tremendous pace without anyone understanding what is happening or where we are heading. In return for power, the modern pact expects us to give up sense. The savior of mankind was not the law of supply and demand, but a revolutionary new religion called humanism.

Modern politicians and economists believe that economic growth is vital for three reasons: if we produce more we can consume more, thus we can have a high standard of living which leads us to happiness. Well, this reasoning is another aspect worth examining. Just like the conviction that modern technology makes our life easier.

To be continued…

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