{"id":14297,"date":"2017-10-11T13:01:21","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T20:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=14297"},"modified":"2017-10-11T13:04:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T20:04:49","slug":"humankinds-epoch-search-for-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/humankinds-epoch-search-for-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Humankind’s Epoch Search for God *"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Some who argue from a Christian perspective in opposition to A Brief History of Humankind<\/em>, focus on chapter 12 because it deals with religion and how in Harari\u2019s analysis man created religion to \u201clegitimise widespread social and political orders\u2026\u201d [210] Though I do not agree with Harari\u2019s evolutionary position nor his analysis concerning religion, he does make valid points on the progress of humankind, their impact on the earth and their search for happiness and I would add\u00a0their search for God.<\/p>\n

For the purpose of this post, I wish to reframe Harari\u2019s thesis in the light of the human journey, which aside from the evolutionary foundation and the religious analysis, to name a few, Harari does a good job of outlining the human condition and the human journey without God. In that context I wish, with limited time and space, to reframe Harari\u2019s story as humankind\u2019s search for God, their denial of the existence of God, leading to the conclusion that they, then, must be God. I will make an effort to frame the journey via Harari\u2019s major revolutions: the cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, the scientific revolution and finally the future revolution.<\/p>\n

Revolution # 1: In the beginning, humankind imagined: The Cognitive Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Harari, the cognitive revolution was the first major revolution for the collective, resilient and now primary Homo sapiens<\/i>. In part one of Harari\u2019s thesis, Homo sapiens<\/i> evolved from a larger group of animals and worked their way to the top of the food chain. Though humans would argue that they are set apart from the animal kingdom and even try to cover up their sorted past, they remain part of the larger tribe in the long line of great apes. [4, 5] And then suddenly, about 30,000 to 70,000 years ago a mutation in the brains of the Homo sapiens<\/i> caused a revolution. Homo sapiens<\/i> imagined! They communicated, spoke and even gossiped, and the history of humankind began. [23] In the beginning humankind imagined, and they declared, \u201cnow we are gods!\u201d<\/p>\n

Revolution # 2: In the second epoch humankind planted: The Agricultural Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Harari, it was 10,000 years ago that humankind began to focus their energy and their newfound cognitive abilities toward manipulating animals and plants to suit their dietary needs. [77] The revolution brought about the development of larger sustainable communities. This leap from hunter-gatherer to sower and reaper brought with it a new system of classification for humans. The farmer had a more difficult and less satisfying life than the forager or even the hunter-gatherer, lowering the farmer\u2019s social status, while the elite class was rewarded with food. When all was said and done, instead of domesticating the plant, plants domesticated Homo sapiens<\/i>, and the vast divide among people became greater. [79] In the second epoch humankind planted and declared, \u201cnow we are gods!\u201d<\/p>\n

Revolution #3: In the third epoch humankind knew: The Scientific Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Harari, at about AD 1500 another revolution was in full swing. It was at this time that “humankind had obtained enormous new powers by investing resources in scientific research.\u201d (249) These new powers brought about change that was unprecedented in history. It brought with it mathematics, astronomy, medical advances, advances in the food supply, military refinements, exploration, conquest, and economic models from which capitalism, communism and the other \u201cisms\u201d sprang. The discovery of America was a turning point in the scientific revolution in that Europe was forced to develop new systems and technology to gain access to the fullness that the new land promised. The discovery was fuel to the flame of scientific revolution. In the third epoch, humankind knew and declared, \u201cnow we are gods!\u201d<\/p>\n

Revolution #4\u00a0 In the fourth epoch humankind became God: The Future Revolution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Harari, even though humans have not yet progressed to deity level\u2014natural selection still being the more dominant design agent\u2014it will eventually happen. [389] In fact, Harari states that \u201cAt the time of writing, the replacement of natural selection by intelligent design could happen in any of three ways: through biological engineering, cyborg engineering (cyborgs are beings that combine organic with non-organic parts) or the engineering of inorganic life.\u201d [399] Humankind can now create absent a compass or a moral standard, without direction or guidance outside of self-preservation and selection. They are \u201cmore powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with that power.\u201d Someone said that the brain is the only human organ was able to name itself. In the fourth epoch, humankind became God!<\/p>\n

The journey of humankind presented in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/i>, is one of conquest and revolution, but at its core is a search for happiness, the search for God. Harari admits that happiness is not based on objective conditions but on subjective expectations. [383]\u00a0 In every revolution, in every move forward, in every new discovery there was a move toward happiness, and that desire for happiness brought humans closer together and yet further apart. It was as if there is a longing for relationship buried deep inside of the human soul. The journey it inspired should have lead to God, but instead, it lead to the deception that we, in fact, are God!<\/p>\n

Though we have come far, we may not have come as far as we might believe. If indeed those of the middle ages were less developed then we claim to be today, Harari admits that at least \u201cthey may well have viewed their lives as far more meaningful and worthwhile than modern secular people, who in the long term can expect nothing but complete and meaningless oblivion.\u201d [391] For me there is one reason for the revolutions, humankind\u2019s search for God. Therefore, there is only one answer to the human predicament, not that we become God, but that we allow him to be in the center of our life and journey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yuval Noah, Harari.\u00a0Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind<\/i>. Kindle ed. New York, NY: Harper, 2015.<\/p>\n

*For literary purposes I use the word “epoch” instead of “epic” in the title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some who argue from a Christian perspective in opposition to A Brief History of Humankind, focus on chapter 12 because it deals with religion and how in Harari\u2019s analysis man created religion to \u201clegitimise widespread social and political orders\u2026\u201d [210] Though I do not agree with Harari\u2019s evolutionary position nor his analysis concerning religion, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[760],"class_list":["post-14297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-harari","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14297"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14305,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14297\/revisions\/14305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}