Humility
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| Prof. Yuval Noah Harari |
About the author
· Prof. Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lesions for the 21st century, and Sapiens: A Graphic History.
· He is a co-founder of Sapienship, a multidisciplinary organization advocating for global responsibility whose mission is to clarify the public conversation, support the quest for solutions and focus attention on the most important challenges facing the world for today.
· He is now a lecture in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Central Idea
Harari exemplifies the virtue of humility in that he debunks humanity’s illusions of superiority and mastery. He claims morality, art, spirituality and creativity are universal human abilities embedded in our DNA.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions
a. Describe the claim of the Chinese nationalists about the human history.
The Chinese claims that the human history began the Yellow Emperor and Xia and Shang dynasties that whatever Westerners, Muslims or Indians achieved is but a pale copy of original Chinese breakthroughs.
b. What do pious Muslims believe about the human history?
Pious Muslims regard all history prior to the Prophet Muhammad as largely irrelevant, and they consider all history after the revelation of the Quran to revolve around the Muslim ummah.
c. What did the Aztecs firmly believe about the universe?
The Aztecs firmly believed that without the sacrifices they performed each year, the sun would not rise and the entire universe would disintegrate.
d. What, according to the essay, are the universal human abilities?
According to the essay, morality, art, spirituality and creativity are universal human abilities embedded in our DNA.
e. How are the basic yoga postures derived from the shape of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet?
The basic yoga postures are derived from the shape of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The trikonasana posture imitates the shape of the Hebrew letter aleph, tuladandasana imitates the letter daled, etc.
Reference to the context
a. How do Hindu nationalists refute the Chinese claim that human history really began with the Yellow Emperor and the Xia and Shang dynasties? Who do you agree with, and why?
Hindu nationalists refute the Chinese claim that human history really began with the Yellow Emperor and the Xia and Shang dynasties. Chinese nationalists claim that the human history began the Yellow Emperor and Xia and Shang dynasties that whatever Westerners, Muslims or Indians achieved is but a pale copy of original Chinese breakthroughs. On the contrary, Hindu nativists dismiss the Chinese boasts, and argue that even airplanes and nuclear bombs were invented by ancient sages in the Indian subcontinent long before Confucius or Plato, not to mention Einstein and the Wright brothers.
The author presents the claim as made by Hindu nationalist that it was Maharishi Bhardwaj who invented rockets and aeroplanes that Vishwamitra not only invented but also used missiles, that Acharya Kanad was the father of atomic theory, and that the Mahabharat accurately describes nuclear weapons. This claim seems to be true to some extent, as some Indian researchers and writers claimed that Maharishi Bhardwaj had narrated guidelines for making aircraft. There are some books like Brihatvimanshastra and Viman Samhita for plane making and so on. Additionally, some Hindu texts include the description of ‘Pushpaka Vimana’ used by Ravana taken from Kubera and the nuclear weapons invented by ancient Indian sages. Such descriptions make many people believe the superiority of Hindu civilization and the claims on it.
To sum up, no claims are true as they all are merely imaginative. Every nation or the religion claims for the credit to new invention or achievement. To me, both of these claims combine a willful ignorance of history with more than a hint of racism. Moreover, the followers of them are genuinely convinced of such claims. Such claims are self-important narratives, as the author of this essay suggests the world is like a hot-air balloon inflated by their own tribes.
b. The author had dealt with a controversial debate on human history. Why do you think history has been a major contested issue in the present world?
The author had dealt with a controversial debate on human history. For examples, many Greeks believe that history began with Homer, Sophocles and Plato, Chinese nationalist believe that human history began with the Yellow Emperor and the Xia and Shang dynasties, Hindu nativists argue that even airplanes and nuclear bombs were invented by ancient sages in the Indian subcontinent long before Confucius or Plate, not to mention Einstein and the Wright brothers, and so on. Every religion has own beliefs about the history of humanity.
I think history has been a major contested issue in the present day world due to human’s feelings of superiority. Most people tend to believe they are the centre of the world, and their culture is the linchpin if human history. People make such claims because they are egoistic. Almost all the religions or nations think that they are the most important thing in the world. They quickly claim credit for now achievement and inventions. The people having affinity with them are genuinely convinced of such ridiculous claims.
To sum up, history has been a major contested issue in the present world because of humans’ tendency of taking themselves as the centre of the world. The trend of making self-important narratives has given birth to a controversial debate on human history. Therefore, the author calls the world ‘a hot-air balloons inflated by their own tribes’.
Reference beyond the text
a. Write an essay on The Conflicting History of Human Civilization.
Human civilization has the conflicting history since most of the religions and nations claim that they are the centre of the world and the human history began with their own ancestors and in their own land. Needless to say, human civilization has only one point of origin and the single root. But humans’ nature of self-centeredness allows them to combine a willful ignorance of history with more than a hint of racism.
Many Greeks believe that history began with Homer, Sophocles and Plato, and that all important ideas and inventions were born in Athens, Sparta, Alexandria or Constantinople. The Chinese nationalists retort that history and claim that the human history began with the Yellow Emperor and Xia and Shang dynasties that whatever Westerners, Muslims or Indians achieved is but a pale copy of original Chinese breakthroughs. Hindu nativists dismiss these Chinese boasts, and argue that even airplanes and nuclear bombs were invented by ancient sages in the Indian subcontinent long before Confucius or Plate, not to mention Einstein and the Wright brothers.
Pious Muslims regard all history prior to the Prophet Muhammad as largely irrelevant, and they consider all history after the revelation of the Quran to revolve around the Muslim ummah. The Aztecs firmly believed that without the sacrifices they performed each year, the sun would not rise and the entire universe would disintegrate. Jewish people think that they are the central heroes of history and the ultimate wellspring of human morality, spirituality and learning. Needless to say, that British, French, German, American, Russian, Japanese and countless other groups have their own claims on human history and civilization.
To conclude, every religious group or nation should be able to come out of illusions of superiority and mastery to the world filled with feeling of oneness. It is the demand of the present world to find the real origin of human civilization. People must believe on morality, art, spirituality and creativity that are universal human abilities embedded in our DNA. Humans’ effort must turn towards the feelings of fraternity, truth and co-existence. The world is made like a hot-air balloon inflated by their own tribes. Therefore, there must be common initiative to discover the truth to change the world filled with people who are familiar to their origin and known to our civilization.
b. The author claims, “Since it is more polite to criticize one’s own people than to criticize foreigners.” Do you agree to his claim? Give your reasons.
Yes, I absolutely agree with the author. It is more polite to criticize one’s own people than to criticize foreigners. This statement indicates that the ignorance and illusions that have blinded people regarding the history of human civilization. As the author suggests, our own claim on the human history is also false. This claim signifies that no one in the world is able to give objective claim on human civilization. Another most important message is that transformation, progress and improvement should be started from ourselves or from our own family or country.
Harari, being himself a polite and civilized person, criticizes his own people to illustrate people’s ignorance, ego, and illusions of superiority and mastery on human civilization. Being irritated with people’s willful ignorance of history, he gives example of Judaism to illustrate how ludicrous such self-important narratives are and argues that it is more polite to criticize one’s own people than to criticize foreigners. To be less critical to others and more conscious to the self is one of the major ethics of a learned man. He is aware of the fact that foreigners can easily be irritated in case a scholar from align religion criticizes or points out their weaknesses. Being an impartial scholar, he discusses a universal issue waiting to be corrected for the virtue of humanity.
