One of the fascinating thing about human being is the capacity to think. René Descartes, the French Philosopher has aptly summed up : Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am). We usually think about our job, family, health, money, car, immediate problems and celebrations, power and social responsibility etc.But once we settle down in our routine life we tend to ask ourselves what the hell we are doing on the earth.From where we have come, why we have come and what is our future.I am reminded of a joke.A man went to a hotel to stay.The receptionist asked the usual questions:Your name, from where you have come, how many days you will stay and where will you go.That fellow asked the receptionist ,”Are you a philosopher ?” No one knows the answer.As per Jean Paul Sartre ,”I was thrown in this world without my consent and purpose.I have to create meaning of life.”Meaning of life can be ascertained only when we have faith in life after death. Otherwise it is a matter of few years only.Even if we have no faith in life after death this life itself is so complicated and unpredictable that we have to think about life itself even for the selfish purpose of leading a life full of Eudaimonia(An Aristotelian notion): a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous.

There are various theories of origin and growth of human beings.All religions have some form of God or Godliness that is the first cause of life.Scientists following Charles Darwin and modifying his theories with recent discoveries, believe in the natural evolution of life.From simple to complex. But this process of evolving life from simple to complex has many gaps in theory which have not been filled by scientists.A recent attempt by Yuval Noah Harari, an Israeli historian to fill this gap has got world wide attention and praise.A new compelling way to explain this evolution of Homo sapiens explained in a thought provoking book ,” Sapiens: A brief History of humankind” published in Hebrew in 2011 and translated and published in English in 2014, has many admirers including Bill Gates,Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg. Harari has a simple explanation (based on lot of research and thinking).”Homo” a Latin word means human and “Sapien” means wise.Our ancestors were Homo sapiens.But they were not the only human.There were at least six varieties of them.All can be traced to a type of ape (the nearest one in class is chimpanzee). It is around 6 million years that the last common grandmother of humans and chimpanzees existed.About 2.5 million years ago genus Homo evolved in Africa.Other types of humans like Neanderthals, erectus and rudolfensis also evolved in due time. About two hundred thousand years ago Homo sapiens evolved in East Africa. About thirteen thousand years ago, all other types of humans perished only Homo sapiens survived.Why only sapiens survived?

All types of humans had some common characteristics which distinguished them with other animals.Their size of brain was large in proportion to their bodies, they could walk upright on their two legs and consequently their hands were free and could be utilized for many things,they domesticated fire and used it for safety, warming and cooking food.But even with these unique features they were one class of animals and not the rulers of the earth.Then what was that that helped Homo sapiens to became dominant over other types of humans (eventually wiping them out) and also overpower other bigger and more powerful animals and gradually became the ruler of the planet.

Here comes the central thesis of Harari. He says that the Cognitive Revolution is the key to the success of Homo sapiens.From seventy thousand years ago to around thirty thousand years, they left Africa and spread over Europe,Middle East,East Asia and Australia.During this period boats, oil lamps, bows and arrows and needles were invented.This is the period of Cognitive Revolution.This revolution is about the evolution and uses of our language.Every other animal has a language for communication but our language is supple and evolved as a way of gossip. We used language for creating myth and fiction so that social cooperation becomes easy; other species could not do so because of the limitation of their use of language .They can communicate with each other about factual things only, they can’t create imagination and share that imagination with others.The fiction and myth, as per Harari, ranges from tribal myths to religious myths to the myth of nations and corporations.This strength of social cooperation made Homo sapiens invincible.

Why this change of nature in human language occurred biologically? there is no clue about it, but it happened.This myth creation is such that we forget to acknowledge its existence even when it engulfs us everywhere.He argued that money is an example of the most successful myth.It has no objective value like of a fruit or vegetable.We think it is valuable because collectively we created it and collectively we believe in it.I give one rupee note to some stranger and he gives me something that is useful like banana which I can eat.No other animal can do it.Other animals sometimes can trade but not on myth.A chimpanzee can exchange a banana for coconut but will not exchange for a piece of paper we call dollar or rupees .That is why We are ruling the planet and not Chimpanzee.That is why he argued that gossiping, myth making and story telling and blind faith in them comes natural to us.Human society is far more flexible and dynamic than any other society but it is also far more fragile.We can change our myth overnight (revolutions do this)but animal society cannot change their customs overnight. There are plenty of such examples in the book.
This forcefully argued book gives a new perspective on the evolution of humankind.One can find current examples of human society to corroborate his thesis.He may be indulging in myth making to simplify a complex problem and committing mistakes of over generalization about something we have very less knowledge.But nevertheless it is a joy to read his book.