The book that will redefine life, work, humankind...
This book hits the nail right on the head. The reason why Homo Sapiens survived and thrived from among all the other primates is because we were the Friendliest. Hard to believe but true!!!
Despite having smaller brains and bodies than the Neanderthals, we out-cooperated and out-survived them. And quite interestingly, we might be extinct as a species for the very same reason. Yes, we are so friendly that we can kill ruthlessly for our friends!!!
Blame it on the love hormone- Oxytocin. While this hormone makes us super friendly to our types. It also makes us super suspicious of people who do not think or share our ideals, or sometimes, even people who eat differently than us. And in extreme cases, it gives rise to xenophobic hatred. A very strong "Us" versus "Them" feeling. So that's it - We are great and ghastly because we are "Friendly Xenophobes".
Yes, humans do not kill so much for ideology. Ideology in fact is an apology. But just because our friends believe or follow certain ideals, we jump into the fray with them. Apparently, a good majority of German soldiers were not hard-core Nazis. Nazism was left way behind on the battlefield. The German soldiers fought to the death and hardly ever deserted even in the most hopeless battle. It was not because they were highly motivated. But because they were loyal to a fault. Literally! All they wanted was to stick with their comrade in arms, till death did them apart. Martial vows apparently are stronger than Marital vows. Both of the vows the leading cause for most woes across the world, across times.
The same goes for the terrorists also. While some terrorists are really whacked out. Most of them join the terrorist groups to seek the approval of their friends and families. They would have hardly read a holy book, or much more, understood it. But yes if their friends or siblings are part of it, it does give them the friendly "rush" to join even a suicide mission.
But far from being cynical, this book encourages us to shun our cynicism. Apparently, cynicism and fear are weaponized by the manipulative amongst us to control the masses in the Post-Agrarian world. By sowing distrust, humans forget their friendliness and seek "Strong men" and "religion". How strong men, prophets and messiahs, and religion hold sway over the masses by creating fear of God, original sin, and social disorder. And if we scratch the history of strong men and religion we will discover how each one precipitated things which they promised to solve or provide for- Like love, peace, salvation, and social harmony. Thanks to the staunch adherents of strong men and religions, they still remain elusive. This reminds me of this book "Good to Great", by Jim Collins. In this book he explained through research how "Charismatic" leaders weaken the institutions. How after they passed away or were upstaged, the companies they helmed lost their glory at the same speed at which these charismatic leaders rose.
This book also turns well established Management Truisms over its heads. It is a wake-up call for Business leaders and professionals. They need to think afresh. The book offers a very sharp, well-researched rebuttals to long held theories like Maslows's Hierarchy of needs and Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiments. What is heartbreaking to know is the tragic consequences of biased and motivated studies. How non-scientific observation by Zimbardo on "Broken Glass Syndrome", which was promoted as holy grail of policing by Criminologists like George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson, continues to incentivize police professionals to arrest people on very flimsy grounds. This over-policing is the root cause of racial profiling and more blacks getting arrested and also being killed by police in the US.
Books like Sapiens set the tone by providing meta-analysis of humanity and human history through profusely cited research. This book is in the same manner. This is not a superficial or pop book at all. It has "gravitas", to use the cliche. It has depth. It cites a whole lot of psychological and social research to debunk old notions about humanity. It did leave me with a lot of hope.
Social Media has redeeming features. However, I believe one day we will be fed up with the social media algorithms which brings some random skirmish in the remotest place so much close that we are always getting triggered. I hope we will go back to the Yahoo Chat days. The world without social media Walls. The social media walls are what is building "Walls" between people now- when all people are posting on it is crap against one another. It is a poor replacement for nuanced and friendly debates that can happen face to face over a drink. The world would be a better place if comment sections on sites and walls on social media completely disappear. Like the book explains, most killing in war happens when the enemy is far and we can't say their faces. So it is easy to be offensive to random people when triggered into a "Wall Rage" by opposing beliefs. People would be more civil if they see the other person close up. I wish we could go back to the Chat world, where we could hit up random people with ASL in the chat rooms. We will then actually reach out and make more friends. Friends who do not seem to be like us. And perhaps we can see that we have a lot more in common with others than what draws us apart. Friendship is the key. Friendship is why Homo sapiens still have hope.
We will perhaps not die because of a bomb. But because we believed too much in the News, social media feeds, OTT series which are more about apocalypse and psychological thrillers that paint humans in the likes of the children who became savage when left their own "devices" (Pun intended) much like in the book " The Lord of the Flies". Thanks to the "Nocebo" effect and also our failure then to trust other human beings, we will actualize the nightmare like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There is good chance that we will be annihilated because we would have collectively forgotten the art of being friendly and making friends!!!
Enough said. If you have read the book, you are already my friend. If you haven't read it and you don't want to read it ever, you still are my friend. If you want to unfriend me because of this long post and if you are anyway just easily offended or offensive, I will still be friendly. And if you do want to read this book, which I recommend highly, here is the link-
HumanKind - A Hopeful History