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A brief history of human dignity
What is human dignity? Here's a primer, told through 200 years of great essays, lectures, and novels.
30 November, 2020
Credit: Benjavisa Ruangvaree / AdobeStock
- Human dignity means that each of our lives have an unimpeachable value simply because we are human, and therefore we are deserving of a baseline level of respect.
- That baseline requires more than the absence of violence, discrimination, and authoritarianism. It means giving individuals the freedom to pursue their own happiness and purpose.
- We look at incredible writings from the last 200 years that illustrate the push for human dignity in regards to slavery, equality, communism, free speech and education.
<p>In a <em>New York Times</em> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/opinion/john-lewis-civil-rights-america.html" target="_blank">essay</a> published the day of his funeral on July 30, 2020, Congressman John Lewis wrote that his "last days and hours"—in which he watched widespread protests over George Floyd's murder and saw a square in downtown D.C. christened Black Lives Matter Plaza—filled him with hope. "Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language and nationality to demand respect for human dignity."</p>
<p>Human dignity is a powerful phrase invoked to peacefully protest against violence, discrimination, and authoritarianism. But when we talk about human dignity, what do we mean?</p>
The inherent worth of all human beings
<p>Human dignity is the inherent worth of each individual human being. Recognizing human dignity means respecting human beings' special value—value that sets us apart from other animals; value that is intrinsic and cannot be lost.</p> <p>Liberalism—the broad political philosophy that organizes society around liberty, justice, and equality—is rooted in the idea of human dignity. Liberalism assumes each of our lives, plans, and preferences have some unimpeachable value, not because of any objective evaluation or contribution to a greater good, but simply because they belong to a human being. We are human, and therefore deserving of a baseline level of respect. </p> <p>Because so many of us take human dignity for granted—just a fact of our humanness—it's usually only when someone's dignity is ignored or violated that we feel compelled to talk about it. </p> <p>But human dignity means more than the absence of violence, discrimination, and authoritarianism. It means giving individuals the freedom to pursue their own happiness and purpose—a freedom that can be hampered by restrictive social institutions or the tyranny of the majority. The liberal ideal of the good society is not just peaceful but also pluralistic: It is a society in which we respect others' right to think and live differently than we do.</p>From the 19th century to today
<p>With <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_start=1800&year_end=2019&content=human+dignity&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Chuman%20dignity%3B%2Cc0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google Books Ngram Viewer</a>, we can chart mentions of human dignity from 1800-2019.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0ODU0My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTUwMzE4MX0.bu0D_0uQuyNLyJjfRESNhu7twkJ5nxu8pQtfa1w3hZs/img.png?width=980" id="7ef38" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9974c7bef3812fcb36858f325889e3c6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>We can also map human dignity against mentions of liberalism to see that discussion of human dignity increased with discussion of liberalism. </p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0ODU0NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjM0ODMzM30.BzxT9Y1Zg5nE-PuQ2enrBn8FXs3HauET23enIw9rH34/img.png?width=980" id="9a5d2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f2270501d92035c19cad5fc758b55e1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Then we can search through individual mentions to find how human dignity was discussed and understood over the last 200 years.</p>
<p>For example, German rabbi Dr. Samuel Hirsch gave a lecture in 1853 on "<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Advocate/s1ccAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22human+dignity%22&pg=PA421&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Religion of Humanity</a>" in which he condemned slavery. "That which we love in ourselves, our true human dignity, compels us to recognize and love the same human dignity in all others," Hirsh said. He wrote:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">If I can look upon my brother-man as a creature, as a thing void of any will of his own, instead of as a free personality, that furnishes ample proof that I have not yet recognized the true human dignity in myself. To own slaves is spiritual suicide and homicide. This sin is in no way excusable on account of the kind treatment accorded to the slaves by their owner, as he never can treat them humanely. When man becomes a piece of property he is robbed of his human dignity. </p>
<p>In 1917, Kansas State Normal School <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Teaching/JMTSWAhrxSMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22human+dignity%22&pg=RA20-PA16&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published</a> a journal on teaching that called for instructors to help each pupil "make completer use of his one lifetime" because "an abundant life, a life of awareness, a life of dignity is an undertaking worthy of gods." </p>
<p>Thomas Bell's 1941 novel <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Out_Of_This_Furnace/TWLtI_V5YB4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22human+dignity%22&pg=PA411&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Out of the Furnace</em></a> centered on an immigrant Slovak family in Pennsylvania. A character muses that it wasn't "where you were born or how you spelled your name or where your father had come from" that mattered; instead,</p>
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">It was the way you thought and felt about certain things. About freedom of speech and the equality of men and the importance of having one law—the same law—for rich and poor, for the people you liked and the people you didn't like. About the right of every man to live his life as he thought best, his right to defend it if anyone tried to change it and his right to change it himself if he decided he liked some other way of living better…. About human dignity, which helped a man live proudly and distinguished his death from animals; and finally, about the value to be put on a human life, one's enemy's no less than one's own. </p>
<p>In a 1953 <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Progress_and_Human_Dignity/i4BMAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22human+dignity%22&pg=PP8&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">speech</a>, then Secretary of State John Foster Dulles argued that communist countries might be able to achieve short-term material gain, but "results so produced are not a glory but a shame. They are achieved by desecrating the dignity of the human individual." Dulles believed human dignity meant being entitled to a life that included physical well-being and "freedom to think, to believe, and to communicate with one's fellows," "opportunities which permit some exercise of individual choices," and "the contemplation and enjoyment of what is beautiful." </p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0ODU4OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTkzNDQwMX0.oF6SRe8h4isr9BMUowNloz-wDivX95L8Gr739uCooIo/img.jpg?width=980" id="363c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f90e6b1f91456d023b5cf3f376463ede" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist and civil rights activist James Baldwin at his home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, southern France, on November 6, 1979.
Credit: Ralph Gatti/AFP via Getty Images
<p>One hundred years after U.S. law stopped allowing Black Americans to be treated as property, Black writer James Baldwin was still <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilychamleewright/2020/06/30/living-up-to-the-liberal-promise/#784c5cc65139" target="_blank">calling</a> for Black Americans' dignity to be equally recognized. It was not enough, not nearly enough, that the 14th Amendment ensured equal protection of the laws; what mattered was how Black Americans were treated by their fellow human beings. In a 1960 Canadian television <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPaBXcEVpOE" target="_blank">interview</a>, Baldwin said, "I don't know what white people see, you know, when they look at a Negro anymore. But I do know very well—I realized when I was very young—that whatever he was looking at, it wasn't me… I was not a <em>man</em>."</p><p>In his seminal 1963 book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Next-Time-James-Baldwin/dp/067974472X" target="_blank"><em>The Fire Next Time</em></a>, Baldwin seemed to echo Dr. Hirsh's argument from a century earlier:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States. But I am also concerned for their dignity, for the health of their souls, and must oppose any attempt that Negroes may make to do to others what has been done to them. I think I know—we see it around us every day—the spiritual wasteland to which that road leads. It is so simple a fact and one that is so hard, apparently, to grasp: <em>Whoever debases others debases himself.</em></p><p>This, then, is a common thread in our historic understanding of human dignity: Anyone who treats another human being as less than human undermines <em>their own</em> human dignity in addition to undermining the dignity of their victim.</p>A 1964 <em>New York University Law Review</em> <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Philosophical_Dimensions_of_Privacy/q_FrmXyl3hUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22human+dignity%22&pg=PA156&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">article</a> argued that privacy was a key aspect of human dignity. "A man whose home may be entered at the will of another, whose conversation may be overheard at the will of another, whose marital and familial intimacies may be overseen at the will of another, is less of a man, has less human dignity, on that account," wrote author Edward J. Bloustein, who later became president of Rutgers University.
The future of dignity
<p>Around the world, people are still working toward the full and equal recognition of human dignity. Every year, new speeches and writings help us understand what dignity is—not only what it looks like when dignity is violated but also what it looks like when dignity is honored. In his posthumous essay, Congressman Lewis wrote, "When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war."</p> <p>The more we talk about human dignity, the better we understand it. And the sooner we can make progress toward a shared vision of peace, freedom, and mutual respect for all. </p>
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What the Greek classics tell us about grief and the importance of mourning the dead
The rites we give to the dead help us understand what it takes to go on living.
29 November, 2020
Photo by Stavrialena Gontzou on Unsplash
As the coronavirus pandemic hit New York in March, the death toll quickly went up with few chances for families and communities to perform traditional rites for their loved ones.
<p>A reporter for <a href="https://time.com/5839056/new-york-city-burials-coronavirus/" target="_blank">Time magazine described</a> how bodies were put on a ramp, then onto a loading dock and stacked on wooden racks. Emergency morgues were set up to handle the large number of dead. By official count, New York City alone had <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/28/863710050/reckoning-with-the-dead-journalist-goes-inside-an-nyc-covid-19-disaster-morgue" target="_blank">20,000 dead</a> over a period of two months. </p><p>Months later, our ability to mourn and process death remains disrupted due to the ever-present fear of the threat of the coronavirus and the need to observe social distancing.</p><p>As a <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=1be7ee967d45605afddf7da9ad4ca2c049a26c0b" target="_blank">scholar of classical studies</a>, I tend to look to the past to help understand the present. Ancient literature, especially ancient Greek epics, explore what it means to be human and part of a community. </p><p>In the Greek classic “The Iliad," Homer specifies few universal rights, but one that emerges clearly is the expectation of proper lamentation, burial and memorial. </p>
<h2>Valuing life in death</h2><p>Homer's "Iliad" explores the themes of 10 years of war – the Trojan War – over a narrative that lasts around 50 days. It shows the internal strife and the struggles of the Greeks as they try to defend themselves against the Trojans.</p><p>It humanizes the city of Troy by emphasizing the scale of loss and suffering and not just the boastful nature of its kings and warlords.</p><p>The epic <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">begins with the recognition</a> that the rage of its main character, Achilles, on account of a slight to his honor, "created myriad griefs" for the Greeks and "sent many strong heroes to the underworld."</p><p>The epic's conflict <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+1.100&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">starts</a> when king Agamemnon, leader of the Greek army, deprives the semi-divine hero Achilles of Briseis, an enslaved woman he was awarded as a prize earlier in the war.</p><p>Briseis is said to be Achilles' "geras," a physical token indicating the esteem his fellow Greeks have for him. The meaning of the word "geras" develops as the poem progresses. But as readers learn alongside Achilles, physical objects are essentially meaningless when one is going to die anyway.</p><p>By the end of the epic, physical tokens of honor are replaced in importance by burial rites. Zeus accepts that his mortal son Sarpedon can at best receive "the geras of the dead" when he is <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D16%3Acard%3D394" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">buried and mourned</a>. Achilles too insists that mourning is "the geras of the dead" when he gathers the Greeks to <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D23%3Acard%3D1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">honor his fallen comrade, Patroklos</a>.</p><p>The epic ends with a justification for the burial of Achilles' opponent, Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors and another victim of Achilles' rage.</p><p>For Hector's funerary rites, the Greeks and the Trojans agree to an armistice. The Trojans gather and clean Hector's body, cremate him, and bury his remains below a monumental tomb. The women of the city tell the story of the brave hero <a href="https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/6668" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in their laments</a>.</p><p>This is its foundational narrative – that burial rites are essential to the collective work of communities. Failure to observe burial provokes crisis. In the Iliad, the gods meet to resolve <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D24%3Acard%3D22" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the problem of Hector's unburied body</a>: Achilles must quit his rage and give Hector's body back to his family.</p>
<h2>A divine right</h2><p>This narrative is repeated in other ancient Greek myths. Best known, perhaps, is Sophocles' "Antigone," a Greek tragedy dating from the 440s B.C. In this play, two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, are killed in their fight for control of the city.</p><p>Creon, their uncle, who takes over the city, <a href="http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/ewatkins/Phil107S13/Sophocles-Antigone.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forbids burial of one</a>. The play's conflict centers around their sister Antigone, who buries her brother against the new king's wishes, consigning herself to death.</p><p>In opposing this basic right, Creon is shown to suffer in turn, losing his wife and son to suicide in the process. In response to the capital punishment of Antigone for performing the rites due to her brother, his son Haemon takes his life and his mother Eurydice follows him.</p><p>Properly honoring the dead – especially those who have died serving their people – is from this perspective a divinely sanctioned right. Furthermore, mistreatment of the dead brings infamy on the city and pollution. Plague often curses cities and peoples who fail to honor their fallen.</p><p>This is central to the plot of "<a href="http://classics.mit.edu/Euripides/suppliants.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Suppliants</a>," another Greek play telling us the story of the conflict between the sons of Oedipus, king of the Greek city of Thebes. In this play by Euripides, the Thebans refuse to bury any of the warriors who fought against their city. The crisis is resolved only when the Athenian hero Theseus leads an army to force them to honor the dead.</p><p>One of the most famous examples of classical rhetoric shares in the tradition of honoring the dead as a public duty. Greek historian Thucydides writes about the funeral oration of Pericles, who was a popular leader in Athens during the 430s B.C.</p><p>On the occasion of offering the "<a href="https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-2461" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">epitaphios</a>," a speech over the fallen war dead, Pericles articulates his vision of the Athenians as standing against foreign threats in the past.</p><p>Memories of the past were an important guide to the future. This is in part why the funeral oration became so important in Athenian life: It provided an opportunity to explain why those lives were sacrificed in service of a shared civic mission and identity.</p>
<h2>Communities of memory</h2><p>Even today, memories are shaped by stories. From local communities to nations, the stories we tell will shape what we will remember about the past.</p><p>Researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predict that an estimated 200,000 people in the U.S. will have died from the coronavirus <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-united-states-coronavirus-deaths-projection-400000-by-end-of-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">by Sept. 26</a> and some 400,000 by the year-end.</p><p>Many people who see loved ones die will deal with unresolved loss, or "<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/complicated-grief/symptoms-causes/syc-20360374" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">complicated grief</a>" – grief that results from not knowing what happened to one's loved ones or without having the social structures to process their loss. That grief has been compounded by the current isolation. It has prevented many from carrying out those very rites that help us learn to live with our grief.</p><p>Just recently, I lost my 91-year-old grandmother, <a href="https://www.rivertowns.net/obituaries/obits/6665780-Beverly-Jean-Mjolsness" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beverly Mjolsness</a>, to a non-coronavirus death. My family made the hard decision not to travel across the country to bury her. Instead, we gathered for a video memorial of a celebration of a life well-lived. As we did so, I could see my family struggling to know how to proceed without the rituals and the comfort of being together.</p><p>Such grief that does not allow for collective in-person memorialization can turn into <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/apa/2020/04/grief-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">debilitating trauma</a>. Our public discourse, however, when it has not tried to minimize the number of the dead or the continuing threat, has not sought to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/national-mourning-coronavirus/2020/05/15/b47fc670-9577-11ea-82b4-c8db161ff6e5_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">provide any plan for memorials</a>, now or in the future.</p><p>What Homer and Sophocles demonstrate is that the rites we give to the dead help us understand what it takes to go on living. I believe we need to start honoring those we have lost to this epidemic. It will not just bring comfort to the living, but remind us that we share a community in which our lives – and deaths – have meaning.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145827/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation"></p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joel-christensen-965979" target="_blank">Joel Christensen</a>, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/brandeis-university-1308" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brandeis University</a></em></p><p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-greek-classics-tell-us-about-grief-and-the-importance-of-mourning-the-dead-145827" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">original article</a>.</p>
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California cave art linked to early use of hallucinogens
The Chumash people poked bits of psychoactive plants into cave ceilings next to their paintings.
27 November, 2020
Credit: Rick Bury (art)/Melissa Dabulamanzi (Datura)/PNAS
- Mysterious pinwheel paintings in a California cave are probably representations of the hallucinogen Datura wrightii.
- The paintings were made by the Chumash people 400 years ago.
- This is the first definitive connection between cave painting and hallucinogens.
<div><br></div>
<p>Mysterious paintings on cave walls and ceilings from long ago no doubt offer insights into the lives of the people who made them. However, exactly <em>what</em> they tell us is less clear. While hunting scenes and images of communities seem straightforward, there are also more abstract images, such as the 5-armed pinwheels painted on the ceiling of Pinwheel Cave in the Wind Wolves Preserve of California's San Emigdio Mountains. Now, chewed clumps of jimsonweed have been found wedged into small crevasses in the ceilings. <em>Datura wrightii</em>, also called "Devil's Trumpet," is a hallucinogenic.</p><p>The findings are presented in a study published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/11/18/2014529117" target="_blank">PNAS</a>.</p>
A suspicion confirmed
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MzQ3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTgwMjk5NH0.S3cHxTWA0-NnEZE2Pc2wWEvTjbKGINKAEy7gaI0_nxE/img.jpg?width=980" id="44b2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a8b2cdbfb20dd669a639aa6467f5ff09" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Robinson in Pinwheel Cave
Credit: Rick Bury/PNAS
<p>About 50 clumps, or "quids," of chewed <em>Datura</em> plant fibers were found tucked into the stone alongside the swirls. It's believed they were painted sometime between 1530 and 1890 by members of the Chumash tribe, linked to today's Tejon people. This is the first time traces of hallucinogens have been found in proximity to cave art. It strongly suggests a connection.</p><p>The discovery was made by archaeologist <a href="https://www.uclan.ac.uk/staff_profiles/dr_david_robinson.php" target="_blank">David Robinson</a> of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in the U.K. Robinson has been excavating the cave since 2007.</p><p>As for what those red-ochre pinwheels represent, Robinson asserts that they depict <em>Datura</em> itself and the way that it unwinds at dusk as seen at the top of this article.</p>Datura wrightii
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MzQ4MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzA1ODM5Mn0.4AU3TZ6B0gntCK45Fkm0_UdMbSXnrQSvAHua0bsj4ec/img.jpg?width=980" id="c3c55" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a3c10957305244183fe3b5f5656a64d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Credit: Dlarsen/Wikimedia Commons
<p>Chemical analysis revealed that 15 quid samples contained traces of two hallucinogenic alkaloids found in <em>Datura</em>, scopolamine and atropine. Microscopy revealed that a majority of the quids contained remnants of <em>Datura</em>, and further 3D scrutiny found that the quids exhibited properties consistent with having been chewed.</p><p>Says co-author <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/bakermatthewdr/" target="_blank">Matthew Baker</a> of the University of Strathclyde, "The combination of chemistry and archaeology in this project has truly shown the power of a multidisciplinary approach to uncover new knowledge."</p><p>The Chumash people are known to have used <em>Datura</em> in adolescent rites of passage and for shamanic vision quests. The plant was considered part of the tribe's spiritual family, personified as an old woman named "Momoy." The plant is classified today as an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entheogen" target="_blank">entheogen</a>, which are plants used for spiritual purposes.</p><p><em>Datura</em> was often ingested after being processed into liquid form, it was also chewed, as seen in the cave's quids. The Chumash knew how much <em>Datura</em> to ingest — it can be lethal when the dosage is too high.</p>Bringing the past to the present
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MzQ5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzg4NTI1MH0.0e6H1ImLOQvOlpO9MloBjvUDCC3jWfyk37voCQU64E0/img.jpg?width=980" id="1bc7e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="173dc2bfcfe6f12ee6c3e89bdfa29d97" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Credit: Devlin Gandy/University of Central Lancashire
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The link between hallucinogens and rock art has long been suspected," says Robinson, "and this research shows that it was not only a source of creative inspiration for these prehistoric groups of people, but a core tenet of important rituals and community gathering."</p><p>He adds, "These findings give us a far more in-depth understanding of the lives of indigenous American communities and their relationships, from late prehistoric times right up until the late 1800s. Importantly, because of this research, the Tejon Indian tribe now visits the site annually to reconnect to this important ancestral place."</p><p>Co-author <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/fcs22.page" target="_blank">Fraser Sturt</a> of the University of Southampton, lauds the partnerships that made the findings possible:</p><p>"The results of this project spring from a high interdisciplinary, open and collaborative approach to research. In this way, new and improved recording and analytical techniques have helped to reconnect material remains, art, narrative and people across space and time. Thus, while the focus is on the hallucinogenic properties of Datura and its role in rock art and community generation, this work also shows that it is one facet of a complex suite of relationships between people, place and the environment."</p>
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Top 5 theories on the enigmatic monolith found in Utah desert
A strange object found in the desert has prompted worldwide speculation.
26 November, 2020
A mysterious object was found in a Utah desert.
Credit: Utah Department of Public Safety
Culture & Religion
- A monolithic object found in a remote part of Utah caused worldwide speculation about its origins.
- The object is very similar to the famous monolith from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: Space Odyssey".
- The object could be work of an artist or even have extraterrestrial origins.
<p>An enigmatic "monolith" found in the desert in Utah on November 18 has become the source of worldwide attention and speculation, with internet denizens looking for something more light-hearted to talk about as the tumultuous 2020 draws to a close.</p><p>The unusual object was discovered by a helicopter of the Utah Department of Public Safety department which was helping the Department of Wildlife Resources to count bighorn sheep in a remote southern part of the state. As the crew passed by the object, a biologist noticed what they described as something "out of this world." Upon landing amidst red rock cliffs and getting a closer look, they found a shiny object, between 10 and 12 feet high, that was eerily similar to the monolith in director Stanley Kubrick's seminal sci-fi masterpiece, "2001: Space Odyssey."</p>
<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 640px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1330191662518312962&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fbigthink.com%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2649052460%23publish&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1330191662518312962"></iframe></div><p>Given the cinematic history and the location of the object, here are top 5 theories on what it could be:</p> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
1. Art object
<p>Chances are, this is an art object. The shiny "monolith" appears to be bolted to the ground and made of metal. It also seems to be fastened with rivets, rather being a uniform block of more unexplainable production origin. Deserts are great places for unusual installations as has been evidenced by past art projects that you can discover wandering through the ghost towns and faraway canyons of Nevada, California, Utah, and New Mexico. Certainly, an artist with a sense of humor and an appreciation of Kubrick's genius could have installed such "sculpture" in hopes of exactly what is happening right now–viral fame.</p><p>On the other hand, there is evidence, courtesy of eagle-eyed <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/jzkpad/helicopter_pilot_finds_strange_monolith_in_remote/gdg9qfi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" target="_blank">Google Earth sleuths</a>, that the object appeared in that location (somewhere near <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cany/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Canyonlands National Park</a>) in 2015-2016. So it's possibly been there for a few years. Would an artist have placed it there so long ago with the aim of having this type of success eventually?</p><p>A gallery owner <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/utah-monolith-desert-mystery-solved-john-mccracken-sculptor-artist-2001-a-space-odyssey/0bae1a27-5bd2-451e-90a6-393928d9ed02" target="_blank">claimed</a> the work may be a tribute to the late artist John McCracken, who created similar-looking objects before he died in 2011. McCracken was part of the Light and Space movement with such artists as James Turrell, and was known to make his sculptures from plywood forms that were coated with fiberglass and polyester resin.</p><p>While the theory that the monolith was the work of a McCracken aficionado (or the artist himself) may hold some water due to the object's similarity, the fact that the artist died so long ago and the lack of clear incentive for anyone to have planted this years ago only to reveal it now work against this theory.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDg0MTk1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjIyNzk4MH0.kXiB-m0-0naGTd2O-J4rvLpiBC1mPd5Zk3DBsVzFSRI/img.jpg?width=980" id="83773" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="412ac8b09b2bb68db9044a05e8409b12" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
John McCracken sculptures.
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5088cb6eab21fcb02f5a163642e6de83"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U4ldSYYtE-I?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>Another Utah desert art object.</p>
2. Alien evolutionary device
<p>Certainly, explaining the monolith as an art installation may make the most sense at this point, but its resemblance to the famous object from Kubrick's epic "2001: A Space Odyssey" can't help but bring some science-fiction scenarios to our minds.</p><p>In the film, the perfect black slab was discovered by a group of prehistoric apes. After finding the slab, the apes seemed to have developed the ability to utilize found objects like bones as tools and weapons. The film suggests that finding the monolith had an evolutionary impact on the apes, perhaps serving as "the missing link" that propelled humans from being lower-end primates to the intellectual powerhouses they are today.</p><p><span></span>Later in the film, after fast-forwarding thousands of years into the future, such an object is discovered on the moon by human astronauts. Using the writer Arthur C. Clarke's short story <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentinel_(short_story)" target="_blank">"The Sentinel"</a> as its inspiration, the film's narrative suggests that alien civilizations are responsible for these objects which potentially serve as beacons that may still be transmitting signals back to whoever created them while also possibly being responsible for fostering evolution throughout the Universe.</p><p>Could the Utah object be serving just such a function? While 2020 has offered very inconsistent evidence of human intelligence, a device from a benevolent alien race that can make us all smarter might be just what we need. </p><p>Or it could portend the exact opposite and be the one thing that will hasten our demise.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2178845abc1a10c7b869e2f6201d5db7"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cHWs3c3YNs4?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
3. Alien probe
<p>Besides having some specific impact on the inhabitants of planet Earth, the monolith could "just" be an extraterrestrial probe, sent here to learn about our ways. Would placing it in the middle of Utah desert be the best place to probe humanity? If the object was part of many such probes being sent all over the cosmos, it's possible the advanced alien overlord wannabes may not know specifically we are here and are just sending these everywhere they can. It's similar to when humans send probes to places like Mars and assume there's no life there just because the rover landed in the middle of a desert.</p>A closer look: the Utah monolith
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_212pAKpr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_212pAKpr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_212pAKpr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Dave Sparks (@heavydsparks)</a><br></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>4. Kubrick fan installation
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) was one of the greatest film directors of all time, leaving behind a slate of films that are each considered a masterpiece </span><span style="background-color: initial;">– "Dr. Strangelove," "The Shining," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "A Clockwork Orange," "Spartacus," "Full Metal Jacket," and more.</span></p><p>The visionary American director left a profound legacy, garnering millions of fans around the world. As the monolith he devised for "2001: A Space Odyssey" is one of the most famous objects in movie history, it's not out of the question that one of the director's followers decided to recreate it.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="79d90172390295c27e533be4cbbd24e7"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oU4Rk0NATNs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
5. Government control device
<p>The American Southwest is rife with government military installations and mysterious bases like Area 51. Having the monolith be a part of some government (vast psychological?) experiment is a connection that's easy to make for any conspiracy-minded internet dweller.</p><p>Of course, given the government's penchant for both secrecy and ineptitude, this last one may be the hardest to ever prove definitively. In any case, the Department of Public Safety is not releasing the exact location of the object and warns people against trying to find it:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It is in a very remote area and if individuals were to attempt to visit the area, there is a significant possibility they may become stranded and require rescue," DPS <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/24/monolith-utah-theories-what-is-it-mystery" target="_blank">said</a>.</p>
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Plato’s utopia and why you don’t want to live there
History's first utopia shows how far we've come.
25 November, 2020
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Public Domain
Culture & Religion
- Plato's "Republic" is the first utopian novel, complete with an ideal city—the Kallipolis.
- The totalitarian leanings of the Kallipolis have lead many thinkers to move in the opposite direction since then.
- Even if we don't like it, having to explain why we don't is a useful exercise.
<p> Literature and philosophy are littered with visions of utopia drawn up by thinkers with various ideological frameworks. Some are based on alternative economic systems; some are designed to fit a specific view of human psychology; others hope to find harmony with nature. Like nearly every other area of intellectual endeavor, they all owe a debt to Plato, who did it first. </p><p> His book contains the first known sketch for a Utopian society. Part allegory, part legitimate policy proposal, and part critique of existing systems, "Republic" offers many ideas that, allegedly, point to an ideal city. </p><p> Unfortunately, as we'll soon see, nobody in their right mind would ever want to live <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics-politics/" target="_blank">there</a>. <br> <br> </p>
Putting smart people in charge
<p> Most utopian literature starts with trying to answer the "what is the ideal society" question. "Republic" begins by trying to answer the question: "What is justice and is it good for a person to be just?" This is a very big question, and Plato answers it through analogy via his main character Socrates. He suggests that justice in the ideal city is akin to justice in a person and that by understanding justice on the large, easy to see scale, we can understand it in the smaller. </p><p> The city, dubbed the Kallipolis, would be governed by <em>Philosopher-Kings</em>. Selected for their wisdom, these rulers would be educated for 50 years before taking control of the city. Guided by their understanding of the good, the just, and how to achieve it, they would drive the city towards peace and prosperity. </p><p>Men and women would be treated equally, as Plato can find no reason why either sex is fundamentally unable to do what the other can within reasonable limits. All children would be given a quality education suitable to their natural talents. <br> <br> All of this is geared towards creating the best city possible, with high overall happiness, virtue, and harmony. </p>This sounds great! How does it work?
<iframe width="730" height="430" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cVLpdzhcU0g" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>It works through an increasingly totalitarian series of laws and regulations that keep the city as a whole functioning with little regard for the stated desires of the populace. While many of the specifics are left unstated, what is said is plenty. <br> <br> The city features a rigidly enforced caste system, with no social movement possible for adults. However, their children may be promoted or demoted based on how they do in school. The guardian and warrior class that rules and defends the city will be without personal and private property but will live in communal abodes thanks to taxes collected from the lower classes. All the rulers will be chosen from this class. <br> </p><p> Speaking of children, families would no longer exist as single units; instead, children produced by state-sanctioned marriages will be reared by the state. Alongside this will be a eugenics system featuring the infanticide of the children of "inferior parents" or any "defective" baby. Rigged lotteries will be used to assure lower quality parents don't contaminate the bloodlines of higher quality stock. <strong><br> <br> </strong>To assure that the truth is respected, all the poets will be sent into exile. All works of culture, from plays to bedtime stories, will be approved by the rulers. Naturally, these rulers are the only people capable of grasping "truth" rather than cheap imitations of it.</p><p>The system's endurance is made possible using a "noble lie," assuring the common people that souls come in varieties. The philosopher kings have golden souls, their aids and warriors have silver ones, and the farmers, laborers, and craftsman are metaphysically made of brass and iron. The lie includes the warning that everything will fall apart if people of the wrong build are put in charge. <br> <br> Oh, and it is doomed to eventual failure as Plato suggests all political regimes are. <br> <br> Sounds pleasant, doesn't it?</p><iframe width="730" height="430" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U4Dm3NKsQu8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> <strong><br> </strong>Karl Popper, whose objections to totalitarianism have appeared in several books, thought the ideas in "Republic" were taken seriously too many times. </p><p> With its dedication to the idea that social-engineering is not only possible but often desirable, and that all is permitted so long as the polity is being driven towards the objective good, Popper suggests "Republic" was intellectually behind the totalitarian movements of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. <br> <br> Allegedly, Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and leader of the Iranian Revolution, was inspired by "Republic" when crafting the Iranian government, complete with its own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/04/obituaries/ayatollah-ruhollah-khomeini-89-the-unwavering-iranian-spiritual-leader.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Philosopher King.</a> How well this worked out is subject to debate. </p><p> Bertrand Russell, another critic of the book, argued that it was intended to be taken seriously as a society that could be enacted in ancient Greece. A point supported by a variety of evidence. It's not too much of a stretch to say that plenty of people have taken this seriously at some point.</p><p>Any utopia is going to be based on assumptions about people, societies, justice, and other concepts that someone is going to find controversial. In the 2000 years since Plato wrote his down, everything he said has gone from being deemed correct to being dismissed as nonsense. As a result, his perfect city seems monstrous to us today. <br> <br> However, the discussion prompted by the debate over if Plato's Kallipolis is ideal, practical, or even possible has advanced our understanding of ethics and political philosophy for centuries. After all, we must ask ourselves why we like freedom, democracy, and the occasional disinformation when faced with an alternative that, allegedly, offers a better society to live in. </p><p> As always, we might owe Plato a debt of thanks, even while we reject his philosophy wholesale. </p>
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Kind by nature: Have faith in humanity
Radical thinker Rutger Bregman paints a new, more beautiful portrait of humanity.
23 November, 2020
Photo by Neil Thomas on Unsplash
Culture & Religion
Optimism is what runs the world, and cynicism only serves as an excuse for the lazy.
<p> Evil is not inherent to our nature. We have achieved so much because we are friendly and decent. The radical thinker Rutger Bregman paints a new, more beautiful portrait of humanity.</p><p>Try standing in front of the mirror and remember the worst things ever done – by you personally, and by <em>Homo sapiens</em> as a whole. And smile, because history shows that we are doing much better than you think. This subversive idea belongs to a Dutch historian, writer and TED lecturer. In his new book, <em>Humankind:</em> <em>A</em> <em>Hopeful</em> <em>History</em>, he finds out whether the conviction that humans are selfish, hostile and destructive by nature is actually true. And if we turn out to be intrinsically good after all, what would it change?</p><p>Rutger Bregman already shook up the minds of politicians, businesspeople and the general public several years ago in his book <em>Utopia for Realists And How We Can Get There</em>, in which he argued that a better world could be built straight away. Bregman's critics consider him a naïve fantast, but many CEOs and national leaders are seriously considering introducing his revolutionary postulates, such as much shorter workdays and universal basic income. In his new book, Bregman goes even further, proposing that we turn the world upside down. More precisely, he wants to put straight the image of humankind as created by philosophy, science and the media. And to change our behaviour for the better.</p><p>The author has created a daring, fresh story, filled with fascinating examples, analyses and discoveries, and constructed it as if it were an investigation. The accused was <em>Homo sapiens</em>, a species with alleged murderous tendencies since the dawn of time, seeing his own viciousness reflected in everything and everyone around. Bregman revised the evidence in question and tore the lining of this negative story, reaching deep into the discoveries of archaeologists, historians and biologists. He bursts through the philosophy of Hobbes, who had a defining influence on the image of humans, perceived as warmongering species who must be controlled by a powerful, Leviathan-like government at all times. Bregman uncovers swindles ensconced in the most famous psychological theses of the 20th century, laying bare the manipulations of such celebrities as Philip Zimbardo and Stanley Milgram, whose famous experiments are considered the final evidence that a Nazi and sadist is lurking in every one of us. Yet years later, those claims turned out to be a sham.</p><p><br/></p>
<p>Bregman crushes the myths built by bestselling authors such as Nobel Prize laureate William Golding, best known for his novel <em>Lord of the Flies</em>, and by big media like <em>The New York Times</em>. He boldly debates the most popular authors of recent years: <a href="https://przekroj.pl/en/society/the-gospel-according-to-pinker-tomasz-stawiszynski" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steven Pinker,</a> Yuval Noah Harari and Malcolm Gladwell. With the energy of a young and fearless researcher, he dug through all the critical files, finding new evidence in old cases. The turn of perspective is so surprising that <em>Humankind</em> keeps the reader on their toes. Whatever you think about humans, Bregman will derail your viewpoint. And there's probably nothing as baffling as how much we struggle with accepting the idea that we are better than we thought we were. The thought that most of us are intrinsically good turns out to be a challenge, as if the bar has suddenly gone higher. Such a positive image makes us want to try harder.</p><p>Bregman uses the phenomenon we call the Pygmalion effect, meaning that we become what others see in us. Those rats that researchers assumed to be intelligent did better with the tasks they encountered. Children with supportive parents and teachers do better at school and in life. And people who see good in themselves, start to cultivate it. Bergman believes cynicism to be an avoidance strategy.</p><blockquote>The belief that people are vicious and that the world is going to the dogs justifies passivity. Optimism, however, has an opposite effect – it requires us to strive for kindness, trust, and generosity in an active way.<br></blockquote><p>The common belief that crisis awakens the most primitive instincts in people is not reflected in the facts, writes Bregman. He calls it the greatest misunderstanding in history. "No, no, you go first…", "Please, you go ahead, I'll follow you," said the people leaving the towers of the World Trade Center, when their offices were ablaze and the building was starting to melt. There was no panic; almost everyone remained polite. This was confirmed by recordings and testimonies from the survivors.</p>
<p>On Christmas Eve of 1914, 100,000 soldiers, mostly German and French, left the trenches to meet. They exchanged gifts and sang carols. For years to come, most of them were shooting high above their enemies' heads, so as not to wound them. The same thing happened at other wars, before and after that one. After the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, 90% of the guns were loaded and unused. The murderous instinct is a myth, Bregman insists.</p><p>Hitler's air force raided London in 1940 to break the spirit of the British. Instead, people put messages in their windows, such as: "More open than usual" or "Windows broken, booze still strong!" The English kept calm. Churchill was proud, but soon he made the same mistake, assuming he could break the Germans with air raids instead. After the bombing, Dresden responded in the same spirit as London – with acts of everyday kindness, help and optimism.</p><p>After the war and annihilation, many sought an answer to what made the German soldiers so persistent and determined. The reasons were said to be blind obedience and fanaticism. And yet, Bregman reveals data that was previously omitted and passed-over in silence: the main force keeping the soldiers going was the sense of solidarity and camaraderie. They didn't want to abandon their mates, with whom they grew up and trained. When presented in such light, those alleged beasts suddenly start looking a lot like boys from the yard. Like ourselves, even.</p>
<p>Think again, insists the Dutch historian, and see how tragedy brings out the best in people. Evil only exists in us when it masks as good and nestles in our system of beliefs as a sense of righteousness, something important to the world. And don't believe the media, he warns, because they feed on extremes. The media distort reality and teach us to believe in evil. For example, take the famous story of the New York woman named Kitty who was stabbed and died alone in front of her house in 1964, watched by her 38 indifferent neighbours, out of whom just one called the police, the rest declining to get involved. That's the version promoted by <em>The New York Times</em>, with alarming words about an "epidemic of callousness". The facts, as shown by Bregman, are very different. Most of the witnesses didn't see the attack – they just heard the noise. Half of them called the police, and Kitty died in her friend's arms. What happened to the perpetrator? He was caught soon later when he was leaving someone's apartment carrying a TV, and an alarmed neighbour stopped him. People can feel, express concern, and help others – those are the facts on which the media rarely report. There are over a dozen such spectacular deconstructions in Bregman's book, using new evidence he pulls out like trump cards, one after another.</p><p>We follow the rules of kindness and cooperation not only in times of crisis, but also in everyday life. Bregman echoes other researchers who describe the phenomenon of ordinariness as the dominant truth about the world. He refrains from promoting naïve theses, and the strength of his reasoning lies in returning to the right proportions. There is more good in the world, so much of it that we take it for granted and forget to define it. In his view, society is not founded on obedience to the government, which makes us aggressive and insensitive, but on the human trust. That's why real democracy (as opposed to the current rule of sociopath elites over the sensitive majority) is possible. More examples? In Venezuela and Brazil, budget management in many cities was passed over to the inhabitants. As a result, they saw an increase in social investments and education, while poverty and crime plummeted. In Norwegian prisons, guards and inmates spend time together, share duties and wear no uniforms. The outcomes were shorter times of imprisonment, fewer re-offenders, and a lot of savings. And so on.</p><p><em>Humankind</em> rearranges the mind like no other book published over the past few years. It should be mandatory reading in the 21st century, as it gives some balance to another milestone in the human autobiography, the bestselling <em>Sapiens</em> by Yuval Noah Harari from 2014. Bregman insists that optimism is solidly founded on facts. It is not a dream, just a new realism.</p><p><em>Translated from </em><a href="https://przekroj.pl/artykuly/recenzje/czlowiek-czlowiekowi-czlowiekiem" target="_blank"><em>the Polish</em></a><em> by Aga Zano</em></p><p>Reprinted with permission of <a target="_blank" href="https://przekroj.pl/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">Przekrój</a>. Read the <a href="https://przekroj.pl/en/culture/kind-by-nature" target="_blank">original article</a>. </p>
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