3 Missions that Changed Humanity Forever

Human beings have come a long way from where they’ve begun. Sapiens who were once insignificant animals who wandered across the face of this planet has now become the only species to control both other organisms and the resources of this vast planet.

However, even after we proclaimed ourselves to be “superior” species, our troubles never stopped pouring in. We still had millions of people dying from famine, plagues, and wars. These were, in fact, the first three hurdles that mankind had to leap over. Unless we discovered a way to tackle these issues, we as a species were bound to fail. We expected celestial beings to solve our troubles and misery, but this wishful thinking proved to be of little use. We needed to set a solid ground for ourselves and this came in the form of the Scientific Revolution.

The Scientific Revolution was a complete game-changer because we were finally able to practically apply our cognitive abilities to better ourselves. We could actively work towards putting an end to famines, plagues, and wars that killed millions of innocent sapiens.

Challenge 1: Famine

“Most readers know how it probably feels when you miss lunch, or when you fast on some religious holiday. But how does it feel when you haven’t eaten days on end and you have no clue where to get the next morsel of food. Most people today have never experienced this excruciating torment.” – Yuval Noah Harari

Famine for thousands of years has been humanity’s worst enemy. If you were a farmer in the year 10,000BC and heavy rains or storms swept across your fields, or if enemies burned down your harvest, you and your family were most likely to perish into dust.

When famine hit the Middle Eastern lands or medieval India, it was very common that 5 to 10 percent of the population perished. Technology had still not been developed to help governments and ruling elites to save the dying population.

However, things have finally taken a turn. During the last few centuries, changes in the economic, political, and social arenas have safeguarded the average Sapien from biological hunger.

Although we face famines from time to time due to technical errors caused mostly by human activities, we now have gigantic corporations that guarantee various schemes which provide money and daily rations that will ensure that the victim of such a catastrophe will have enough calories within him to survive.

The enormous wealth being generated from the present day economy has been used to increase the production of food which in turn has transformed the life of an average farmer to what it was a century ago.

Today if faced with famine, the farmer can approach big banks and insurance corporations for loans and daily rations. When verified that their case in genuine, these big companies will provide them with enough rations for survival thus safeguarding them from death. Thus the present-day victim facing such a catastrophe may suffer from long term hunger, but will no longer face death.

Challenge 2: Plague

Various plagues have gripped humanity over the course of our historical timeline. Crowded cities that sprout forth from the Industrial Revolution were the ideal breeding ground for pathogens. Merchants and pilgrims who traveled to such cities were well aware of the possibility of a virus outbreak that would potentially risk their lives.

One of the biggest pandemics that have swept across the face of this planet has to be the Black Death which was also known as “The Plague” or the “Pestilence”. This plague resulted in the death of 200 million people across Eurasia and North Africa.

Ancient agricultural societies when faced with the outbreak of a new disease often lost hope and looked to the clouds for help. They lacked the necessary scientific knowledge regarding the type of pathogen, their mode of transmission, and how they would impact humans and other organisms once they’re infected.

Over the years, as the economic pie grew larger and larger, massive hoards of wealth were invested in scientific research and development. We can now decipher the genetic code of new pathogens, their mode of transmission, and how we could limit their impact and contain their spread in a given population.

With each year passing by, doctors can gather more data about previous outbreaks and their impacts thus being able to create better vaccines and drugs against possible competitor viruses and bacteria.

Even though we are still susceptible to hidden pathogens constantly evolving in nature, we still stand a chance against them. With our growing knowledge in the fields of genetics and drugs, we have a unique opportunity to eradicate or even limit mass-murdering pathogens. Thus, the common man of the present-day world has been safeguarded from hopelessness and certain death.

Challenge 3: War

“One central project will be to protect humankind and the planet as a whole from the dangers inherent in our own power” – Yuval Noah Harari

War was considered a necessary evil in pre-modern cultures. War was important for ancient empires and societies since acquiring more land meant both prosperity and power.

Winning a war provided an empire with new land which could be used to create more agricultural produce, palaces, and monuments. War also provided a new labor capital which could now be exploited to till more land and create more stone buildings. War fueled progress in the ancient era.

Over the past few centuries, things have significantly changed. We have now overcome the rule of the jungle. The rule of the jungle stated that even if two entities lived in peace with each other, war was always a possible and viable option.

This is no longer the case because countries of the modern era enjoy more economic, political, and social prosperity from trading and cooperating with one another.

In ancient agricultural societies, 15% of all deaths caused was due to human violence, while in the 21st century only 1% of the population dies from violence caused by humans (aka wars).

 “In 2012 about 56 million people died all throughout the world; 620,000 of them died due to human violence ( war killed 120,000 people, and crime killed another 500,000). In contrast, 800,000 committed suicide, and 1.5 million died of diabetes. Sugar is now more dangerous than gunpowder.”

If medieval empires gained wealth and power from wars, new age modern societies are rewarded ten folds the prosperity in return for cooperation and harmony.

Today, wars have become rarer than ever. Most millennials haven’t even experienced war during their lifetimes. Thus war is no longer an inevitable necessity, but rather an avoidable catastrophe.