The Happenstance of Religions Success
By Sean McDermott
Yuval Harari’s Sapiens (2014)is certainly a book that does not shy away from controversial topics. The third section, Unification, is probably the most controversial section of this book so far due to its take on the role of money, politics, and most controversial of all, its takes on religion in the formation of our modern-day society. While I found most of this interesting to read the part that stood out to me the most in terms of its application to our environment was the section about the “hindsight fallacy.” Here Harari discusses how it may seem obvious when looking back on history that certain events took place as they did that at the time these events were just one of many possible paths with no one knowing with any certainty what the future would hold. Most of Harari’s examples were focused on political or religious events that gave rise and opportunity for these events to become dominant global phenomenon but that these happened in a way that is entirely unpredictable. One event that I found particularly interesting to consider as far as how it impacted society and the environment was the rise of Christianity from just one of many religious sects that existed in the world at the time of Constantine’s rule in 306 CE to becoming the empire’s official religion a few years later (Harari, 2015). It is of course impossible to know what might have been if things had turned out differently, but it is interesting to see how this event fits into many other cascading events in world history such as the spread throughout Europe and later the to the Americas and elsewhere through conquests and conversion. As Christian nations and culture spread throughout the world, they brought with them many of their ideas about government and society which in turn also their philosophy about environmental concerns. It would follow that many modern-day property rights concepts can be traced to this ideological origin. While the Roman empire may not have lasted its impact such a Christianity have endured even through the collapse of empire. This might even be more substantial that the influence Latin has on many of our modern-day Romance languages. Christianity played a big role in the rise of nation states. Of course, there are other major religions in the world today that have been equally important for history but at least in most of the Western World, Christianity has been the most influential.
The rise of Christianity and its unexpected and unintended consequences are a good parable for many environmental events as well. As Harari pointed out so well in this book, the more we learn about an event in history, the less it seems like an inevitability that was obvious to happen. It seems obvious now that humanity would base much of its agriculture around certain crops, most notably certain grasses from which we derive grain, but this probably wasn’t as obvious at the time it was occurring. Similarly, we can wonder what environmental changes would have occurred if religions that did not favor conversion had become more successful. More recently we can wonder what the impacts would have been if society acquired certain technology sooner or later than our current history show. The development of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer in the early twentieth century was a major agricultural development that has had mixed results in hindsight, and that without including the aspect that this chemical revolution was directly related to the development of many explosives that themselves changed the world (Travis, 2015). The development of plastics, internal combustion engines and so many others could all have happened slightly differently or at different time with vastly different results for the environment and few people look back at these moments and contemplate other outcomes. While all these events seem like unrelated independent events brought about by inevitable technological advances, I can see Harari’s point that somehow all these events are still connected through the spread of modern social norms which were strongly influenced by Christianity in most of the Western World. Many environmental philosophers such as Leopold or Muir were undoubtedly shaped by Christianity centuries after Constantine’s conversion (Kline, 2011).
In our modern-day era, I wonder which green energy technologies will win the day. Solar, wind, hydro, all seem to have the potential to replace fossil fuels but there is no clear choice currently about what will be our primary power source in the future. The answer like many of the examples in Harari’s book might come down to happenstance and politics more than anything else. Just as Christianity’s rise seemed unpredictable before Constantine, we might even end up someplace that we are unable to predict at the present. Like Harari says about those who view history with a limited understanding, the answers only seem obvious in hindsight.
Works cited:
Harari, Y. N. (2014). Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. Toronto, Ontario: Signal.
Kline, B. (2011). First along the river a brief history of the U.S. environmental movement (4th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Travis, A. (2015). The Synthetic Nitrogen Industry in World War I: Its Emergence and Expansion. Springer International Publishing AG.
Currency and its Influence on Ethical, Sustainable Practices
By Destiny Weiss
The rise of currency as economies’ driving force has led to the development, knowingly and
unknowingly, of unethical and unsustainable practices. Before currency, economies were small and self-sustained through hunting and gathering at first, and agricultural practices later. It wasn’t until traveling infrastructure improved that currency became an
attractive solution to the issues specialization posed (McGinnis, M. D., & Ostrom, E., 2014). Currencies started with intrinsic value, then became a symbol that represented something else of intrinsic value, and finally became a symbol that represented faith in a government without the need for intrinsic backing. However, the introduction of currencies comes with it the incentive to maximize profits and consequently the development of unethical and unsustainable practices. Unlike before, where an abundance of barley crops would eventually go bad, currency can be amassed and maintain its purchasing power as long as the government certifying it maintains its political power. Resource units involved in monetary transactions include raw materials, intermediary materials, and refined materials. The raw materials involve natural flora, fauna, and land. Additionally, the resource
that compromises currencies, typically a type of metal, serves as a core resource unit. Many resource systems set the conditions for currency such as the processes raw materials must undergo for refinement, transactional systems that allow for the exchange of goods and currency, environmental limitations due to limited resources, and transportation systems. Currency’s power is defined by the governmental body that issues it, often detonated with a seal or symbol. The inverse is also true; a government’s political power depends heavily on the strength of its currency. Governance systems set laws for the specifics of currency exchange. This is evident in laws such as the prevention of laundering, prohibition of purchasing certain goods and services, limits on risky
stock market trading (FDIC, 2017). Governments also protect the value of their currency by prohibiting counterfeiting and defacement. Since currency is supported by its respective government, in a democratic government it is the responsibility of that government to ensure that the goods that are exchanged for its currency match the ethics of its population. If a population values human rights and sustainability, the power of that democratic government’s currency is dependant on ensuring those values are carried out in all aspects relevant to its currency. On the other end, if a population with high amounts of political influence does not care for sustainable practices, a government does not put its currency’s value at risk by neglecting sustainable practices. The currency system, and by extension the trading system, influences and is influenced by a large variety of external systems. The perceived value of a nation’s currency may be influenced by non-economic changes, such as changes in political stability. The development of technology creates
accelerates the rate of market development, which in turn pushes for newer forms of currency, such as electronic currency and decentralized currency. The cultivation and refinement of goods to be exchanged for currency are related to pollution patterns. Climate patterns affect the ability of goods to be transported across distances. The rise of currency has led to the improvement of the general standard of living. It facilitates trade not only within a nation, but between them, and allows for individuals to specialize, further increasing the quality of goods and services. However, the ability for individuals to amass large amounts of currency in conjunction with the influence currency holds over government results in an increase in unethical and unsustainable practices for the sake of short and human-length durations.
Citations:
McGinnis, M. D., & Ostrom, E. (2014). Social-ecological system framework: initial changes and
continuing challenges. Ecology and Society, 19(2), 30. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES06387-190230
FDIC. (2017, August 31). FDIC Law, Regulations, Related Acts.
www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/8000-1600.html.
Mankind’s Unification and its Impact on Beavers
By Emily Stafford
For the most part of humanity’s history, societies of people remained fairly separated, save for Eurasia and Africa, which had established trade routes early on. The author of Sapiens states that the most important time period of mankind’s unification occurred just in the last few centuries when links formed between Europe and the Americas, and global trade intensified. Although, one could argue unification is continually happening as venues of communication continue to expand.
Because the unification of mankind takes place over a large time period, there is no single human-environment interactions that define the era. In many ways, mankind’s unification is still occurring and is susceptible to the environmental issues of today. One example of human-environment interaction that occurred during mankind’s unification was between colonizers and wildlife. In one such case, exotic beaver fur demand became so high in Europe, that beavers in Northeast America became extinct (Khan Academy, 2016).
People were beginning to specialize in professions, making barter exchange more difficult and unfair. This led to the development of a symbolic monetary system, a system of our collective imaginations and mutual trust (Harari, 2011). The creation of a somewhat “universal” currency allowed for increased trade, especially with the discovery of the “new world” and expanding empires. Increased connectivity and monetary currency encouraged a demand for exotic furs, including that of beavers, in Europe. The demand for fur and the willingness of native Americans to trade furs for weapons lent to the overhunting and eventual extinction of Northeastern beavers (Khan Academy, 2016).
Despite the violence of conquering forces, empires helped unify people and their respective cultures. Empires brought together languages, religions, wealth, and knowledge. Empires combined many divided and different cultures into a single large common populace (Harari, 2011). The British empire ultimately brought colonizers to the America’s where they could further conquer the land for Great Britain and reap its resources, like the wildlife.
Mankind’s unification was fueled by three major systems: economical development, empirical expansion and rule, and religious movements. These three factors brought together many small, isolated cultures into larger cohesive ones (Harari, 2011). The ways this occurred may not have been the most benevolent or humane, but ultimately humans became more globally connected through common goals.
Works Cited
Harari, Y. (2011). Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Dvir Publishing House Ltd. https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/blackboard.learn.xythos.prod/5a30bcf95ea52/18266599?X-Blackboard-Expiration=1617645600000&X-Blackboard-Signature=dSOohpNNzx%2FhFBVYu0bHiMFjnqXqUUnAV0EIc0MVLhg%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=200078&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Sapiens-A-Brief-History-of-Humankind.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20210405T120000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAYDKQORRYTKBSBE4S%2F20210405%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=e446a3028f048957a7991527fafa9927b89ed919a1dc155e391b8990b8571906
Khan Academy. (2016). Environmental and health effects of European contact with the New World (article). Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/precontact-and-early-colonial-era/old-and-new-worlds-collide/a/environmental-and-health-effects-of-contact