Echoes of the past: How history shapes our moral and democratic future
Key topics:
History reveals patterns shaping today's political and social conflicts
Harari emphasises democracy’s need for self-correcting mechanisms
Bregman highlights expanding moral concern, from animals to AI
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By Eugene Yiga
At the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwood concludes the novel with a striking reflection: “As all historians know, the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes. Voices may reach from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and, try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clear light of our own day.” And yet looking into the past is an essential part of looking to the future.
For author and historian Yuval Noah Harari, looking into the past is a natural extension of his work. One example is relates to his insights into how historical conflicts can illuminate current issues. He notes that the wars of religion in early modern Europe are an example where, at the time, theological differences were significant enough to prevent meaningful discussions. From a contemporary standpoint, these devastating conflicts might appear irrational. But similar patterns are emerging today.
According to Harari, the current global trend shows a declining ability among people to engage in meaningful conversations with rivals. He points out that while the ideological gaps might be narrower than in the past, the inability to converse is a growing threat to democratic societies. This breakdown in communication, often attributed to the impacts of social media and technological disruptions, suggests that modern democracies face significant risks. In many countries, when dialogue fails, the only remaining option may seem to be conflict. That’s why Harari emphasises the urgency of addressing these communication breakdowns as a top priority for maintaining democratic stability.
Understanding Conflict Through the Ages
This perspective ties into another concept Harari discusses in his book Sapiens, where he explores the paradox that while humans have conquered the world through superior cognitive, communicative, and linguistic skills, these same abilities have not curbed our violent tendencies. Indeed, despite living in what he describes as the most peaceful era in human history, the contradictions are glaring, especially when one considers that most significant historical atrocities were committed by individuals convinced of their moral righteousness, with society only being partially aware of the severity of its wrongdoings. To address this, Harari advocates for the implementation of robust self-correcting mechanisms within societal structures. Such mechanisms begin with the assumption that errors are inevitable and often unrecognised. For example, he discusses the contradiction of the American founding fathers who proclaimed the rights to liberty and equality while some owned enslaved people. However, he still credits them with establishing a system capable of evolving and correcting its failings – a rarity in history given that most institutions, convinced of their own infallibility, resist acknowledging their flaws.
Harari extols the virtues of science as a self-correcting body, where theories are continuously scrutinised and updated as new evidence emerges. Similarly, he sees democracy as an important self-correcting institution and emphasises the importance of mechanisms like periodic elections, independent courts, and a free press. These systems allow for the acknowledgment and rectification of mistakes, providing a model for how societies can progressively adapt and improve. While he acknowledges that complete ethical purity is unachievable, he still believes that the best path forward is to create institutions capable of recognising and amending their errors.
From Historical Atrocities to Modern Moral Challenges
Harari believes that this is one area where religion falls short. Nevertheless, his book Homo Deus expands on how religious narratives provide frameworks that help us navigate the world and its moral complexities.
He emphasises the distinction between the stories we construct and the undeniable reality of suffering. More specifically, he argues that the litmus test for the reality of any entity or hero in a story is its capacity to suffer. Inanimate entities like banks, corporations, or even nations cannot suffer; they lack a nervous system and, therefore, do not experience pain or sorrow in the way living beings do. Humans and animals, on the other hand, can and do suffer, establishing them as the undeniable realities in our stories.
And yet Harari urges that when a narrative potentially causes suffering, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should be immediately discarded; after all, most significant narratives impact some groups negatively. However, it becomes more and more important to listen to those who suffer under the weight of dominant stories. Acknowledging their pain and considering their perspectives may reveal the flaws in one’s own viewpoints. This process underscores the duty to at least hear out those affected by societal narratives.
This brings us neatly to the transformative power of changing stories. Unlike natural phenomena that cause suffering – think of diseases that are often immutable and slow to change – the suffering caused by societal narratives can be quickly addressed by altering the narratives themselves. For example, the long history of suffering faced by the LGBT+ community did not require technological innovations or massive investments to mitigate; rather, it required a swift and decisive change in societal attitudes and stories. This ability to rapidly alter harmful narratives and alleviate suffering highlights the unique human capacity to adapt and evolve socially, potentially reducing widespread harm in relatively short spans of time.
Expanding Circles of Concern
Fellow author and historian Rutger Bregman shares insights that resonate with Harari’s views on narrative and suffering. To do so, he points out an intriguing correlation observed in research: violent criminals often have a higher incidence of brain injuries compared to the general population. While this doesn’t entirely explain their behaviour, and certainly isn’t applicable to all, it suggests a deeper complexity to human actions. Bregman also emphasises that, unlike the typical villains seen in movies and who revel in the suffering of others, most people who commit crimes believe they are on the right side of history. This reflects a disturbing aspect of human nature – our ability to justify our actions, however harmful they may be.
An example in this regard is the ethical implications of how we treat animals, particularly in industrial farming. Bregman cites recent studies on animal cognition that highlight the similarities between humans and animals like pigs, known for their intelligence and emotional capabilities. Despite these findings, our treatment of such animals remains harsh. For example, a surprising poll result showed that half of the American respondents supported banning slaughterhouses yet a vast majority continued to consume meat, revealing a dissonance between ethical beliefs and personal actions. This scenario, Bregman suggests, might be viewed by future historians as one of our greatest moral failings. Of course, this depends on how fast things change.
Indeed, to further expand on the idea of societal progress, Bregman uses Google Ngram data to illustrate the increasing frequency of discussions around civil rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights over the centuries, pointing out how the circle of moral concern has been expanding steadily. The rise in discussions about animal rights represents the latest trend in this expansion, suggesting a growing societal concern for non-human entities. Bregan speculates that this trend might even extend to the rights of artificial intelligence in the future. That’s why he proposes that as AI continues to advance, one of the earliest emergent properties might be its capacity to suffer, which could radically transform our ethical frameworks. This, he acknowledges, might sound far-fetched now, but history is replete with ideas that once seemed improbable yet later became accepted as normative shifts in societal values and ethics. It’s just a matter of time.