A Hopeful History

I have been reading a book titled ‘Human Kind: A Hopeful History’ by Rutger Bregman. Bregman challenges the long-held belief that humans are naturally selfish, violent, and competitive. He argues that human beings are, by nature, kind, cooperative, and inclined toward goodness. What’s more striking is he gives several examples of situations where you would expect human beings to give up on one another, but they go on to display great levels of compassion, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. This behaviour, especially during times of crises, such as wars and famines, makes one question if ‘survival of the fittest’ is indeed the law which governs our evolution.It is true that we have some base instincts in us which tend to bring out the very worst in us. And giving examples of dictators of the past, Bregman cites how almost all of them used cruel psychological techniques just to pit communities and races of people against each other. However, even in those circumstances, despite bombings and air raids over their own heads, civilians went out and helped the so-called enemy. Scores of examples exist even in our scriptures, where even the most impoverished have a meal to share for the atithi, an unexpected visitor. In fact, if we go way back into our history, we will see that humans never operated as individuals. We were always functioning as collectives, tribes and villages. It is possible then that we could prioritise our connections with one another over our own selfish interests, since time immemorial.Isn't it true in our own narrow individual examples, during regular days (think no pandemic, no war, no famine), we are still able to provide something for our families and friends over and above the demanding lives we have at our schools, colleges and offices? What becomes of us if we turn a blind eye to the needs of the people around us and retreat to our individual shells, devoid of any connection to the world around us? I believe such a life is not just uninteresting, but simply impossible. And as individuals belonging to a society, we are forced to commit, connect and cover for others who do the same for us..While the book delves into other social and psychological experiments and examples of how human beings display kindness over cruelty, I am tempted to enquire further on why we do so. Even if we say that we are all willing to go into a cave-like lifestyle, cutting out any form of interaction with the world outside, would we be cooperative or at conflict with Nature? Here, too, I believe humans will figure out a way to cohabit and not conquer the other beings around us. This has been the only way that our civilisations have progressed in the past. So, again, getting back to my question, why?Why are we kind? Why do we seek connection? Why do we provide for people and beings who are different from us?The core principle, simplified, is that we see ourselves in them. We hope that the kindness we extend to someone today is offered back to us some other day. The life spark that we see in ourselves, we want to nourish in the world around us. And isn’t this the core of advaita, non-duality? What enlivens me is what enlivens everything around me. Born out of this awareness, I am driven to be friendly, kind, and protective of the world around me.And, with this attitude born of a divine connection, one cannot just trace a hopeful history, but also chart a hopeful future.

A Hopeful History

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