Some major contradictions in Harari's Sapian

By Omar Javaid

Some glaring contradictions in Yuval Noah Harari's line of argument in his book Sapiens:

1. Science is a slave of myths of capitalism, liberalism which makes science deadly, biased and a commodity of the rich ... science will positively shape the future of homosapiens without consequential effects of capitalism and liberalism

2. There are so many modern myths like capitalism, modernism, nationalism, communism ... but science do not have a mythical foundations (assumption of mechanical causations, what can be measured exists rest don't, only falsifiable statements are worth investigating etc.), not even the theory evolution which use some circumstantial evidence to assert itself as a generalizable fact over billions of years of biological history etc.

3. If happiness is totally subjective and determined from within and not the external world, then why pursue techno-scientific progress? what's the purpose?

4. Liberal humanism is unscientific because it regards human being as the supreme being, however science is trying to transform humans into a supreme being! 

5. Science and technology are one and the same thing 

6. Climate change may not be that bad, its just a natural outcome of human unintended actions, however, genocide and torture of many lifeforms including human beings in the industrial process is bad

7. Every ideology and religion is a myth, I (Harari) also believe in some myths (but I dare call them myths), which all of you (the readers) should believe in too … 

8. Religions is a myth, but it has enhanced our subjective sense of wellbeing in history, but today we must follow scientific progress despite it fails to enhance the subjective wellbeing of people in the modern society …

9. We don't know much about the lives of the people who lives thousands of years ago, however, we are now living in much more peaceful time, thanks to the genocide of 100s of millions in the last 300 years at the hands of the Europeans … 

I am open to correction, let me know if I have missed something in the comments below.

Excerpts from Jo Marchant's book 'Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body'

 "A large proportion of the lonely people's up-regulated genes were involved in inflammation, whereas many of their down regulated genes had roles in antiviral responses and antibody production. In sociable people, the reverse was true — biological activity in their immune cells was skewed towards fighting viruses and tumour cells and away from producing inflammation. Crucially, the difference related most strongly not to the actual size of the volunteers' social networks but to how isolated they felt themselves to be." - Page 215

"We are humans, not machines, after all. When we’re receiving medical care, our mental state matters. Those who feel alone and afraid do not fare as well as those who feel supported, safe and in control." - Page. 154

Page 130

"More than three quarters of clinical trials in the U.S. are funded by drug companies, who understandably have no interest in proving the benefit of any approach to care that might reduce the need for their products. Pills and medical devices are clearly a more attractive business proposition than hypnotherapy or biofeedback. The enthusiasm for physical interventions goes beyond market forces, however: almost all public money goes to conventional drug research too. The annual budget of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is around $30 billion, for example, of which less than 0.2% goes towards testing mind–body therapies. The bigger problem, I’d argue, is a wider, deep-seated prejudice against the idea that the mind might have the power to heal, or to keep us well. The materialist worldview described in this book’s introduction—which prioritizes physical test results and interventions, and sees subjective experience as a distraction—still reigns supreme in science ... Ignoring subjective experience is great when you’re trying to eliminate bias from your scientific experiments but is not always helpful in caring for patients, when psychological and physical wellbeing are inextricably entwined." - Page 294

Page 128

"When we’re under chronic stress, however, cortisol is released into the body all the time. This acts as a permanent off-switch, and suppresses the immune system. Chronic stress impairs our response to vaccines, and makes us more susceptible to infections from the common cold to HIV [and perhaps covid 19 as well]" (addition is mine)" - Page 161

Book Review: Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary

Cover of Latest Edition

Tamim Ansary’s latest book ‘Destiny Disrupted’ outlines the 1400 years of history of Islamic world and the world surrounding Islamic civilization, as seen from the eyes of a Muslim. It is written like a story in a layman's, highly readable language.

This book is a great reminder of the fact that to understand our present condition we need to understand our past, and unless we don't do that we cannot plan for the future. It is quite unfortunate that those of us who have been studying in conventional schools, hardly knows anything about their own past.

In fact there are campaigns going on to even remove the trivial details of history or historical figures present in the curriculum. When the public institutions looks away from the natural duties, which as per the constitution of Pakistan are also their legal responsibilities,  then eventually the public at large needs books which can made us aware of our past. In urdu we have authors like Naseem Hijazi, and Mirza Altamash... the English readers, now have Tamim Ansari.