Mediocre Agriculture ?

Human. Civilization. Modernization. We hear these words all the time yet I think most of us do not know what they really mean. Scientists have been piecing together how tiny little organisms eventually evolved into humans. Anthropologists and historians define civilizations, but much mystery surrounds the rise and fall of civilizations. And modernization, a word that carries both excitement and fear, remains nebulous. But how do these three words relate to each other? Ishmael captures the relationship between these three ideas in a way that forces us to re-examine how humans should view their civilization and how they should move forward with their modernization. I personally bought into Ishmael's argument about Taker culture. Humans believe they are special which came about because of agriculture gave humans the ability to build civilizations and  expand their control, to modernize. I think is what made me believe Ishmael's viewpoint are two big ideas that I had previously been exposed to that Ishmael uses as fundamental pillars that uphold his whole message.

Two summers ago, I read the book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond which explains how the modern world came to be, in other words, how civilizations arose. Ishmael reminded me a lot of Diamond's book but I think the most important argument they shared was the importance of the birth of agriculture. Both Diamond and Quinn emphasize how agriculture is in a way the "knowledge" from the tree of knowledge in that agriculture allowed humans to go against the peacekeeping laws. Diamond specifically cited agriculture as one of the reasons why certain groups of people were able to expand and conquer other groups (though other factors influenced that as well). Agriculture completely changed human culture though. With greater food productions, societies were able to sustain larger population (which Ishmael addressed too) but Diamond also provides other impacts of food production. Agriculture forced societies to centralize, people could specialize in different tasks which increased productivity and allowed societies to perform more complex tasks. As Diamond explains "Complex centralized societies are uniquely capable of organizing public works, long-distance trade, and activities of different groups of economic specialists." Diamond also brings up three other results of food production. First, food production brought seasonal labor which means the central government could use agriculture labor after the harvest. This allowed the government to use cheap labor to build large projects such as roads or buildings and create armies with the extra labor. Second, societies could now store food which meant that everyone could eat. You didn't have to be a hunter or farmer to eat, you could be a scribe, a performer, or a government official and still eat everyday. This allowed individuals to do things other than find food such as invent technology or make advances in weaponry, science, or math which in turn propelled the society as a whole forward. Third, agriculture forced societies to settle down. People became tied down to the land which allowed them to "own" more things. Societies that moved around a lot did not carry many things and thus, had little possessions but sedentary societies could and did develop materialism. As Diamond shows, it's easy to see how agriculture gave power or even birth to the Takers. Ishmael takes Diamond's explanation a bit further by saying that all this population expansion, this materialism, this drive to conquer and expand actually destroys the world and even goes against the laws of nature. Agriculture allows humans to act as mini gods by controlling the food supply, deciding where food should grow, limiting competition's food source and habitats, and sustaining an unnaturally large human population.

The markings represent centers of origin of food production. (Diamond)

Human migrations, interesting to look at in relation to food production origins (Diamond).

The second idea that helped me relate to Ishmael was a physics/astronomy theory called the Mediocrity principle, also known as the Cosmological principle. The Mediocrity principle basically states that nothing is anymore special than anything else. It arose because people kept mistakenly thinking they were special (such as thinking the Earth was the center of the solar system, or that the solar system was the center of the galaxy, or that the galaxy was the center of the universe). Besides the cosmological implications of the Mediocrity principle, the idea behind it reflects how egocentric humans are. We think we are special, unique, exceptional, anything but mediocre. This idea appears in Ishmael in the way Takers believe they are at the level of the gods, above all other animals, above the natural law. I fully bought into that argument which made it easy for me to believe the rest of what Ishmael was saying. Humans have a hard time accepting mediocrity. We love the idea of being special, that each of us is a princess or prince who can do whatever she or he wishes. But according to the laws of nature, we are not special and we cannot do whatever we wish. Our idea of exceptional-ism makes it all too easy for us not to do something or not to follow the rules because we are special. It makes us blind to what we do to the world. We are not mini gods, even with agriculture power. We are just human.

p.s. I understand that people who did not like Ishmael may dislike it for many reasons but I hope these two ideas provide some more support to Ishmael's message.


For anyone interested, I highly recommend reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/guns-germs-and-steel-jared-diamond/1100290895?ean=9780393317558
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