THE GREATNESS OF HUMANITY IS NOT IN BEING HUMAN, BUT IN LIVING HUMANE

It was somewhere around 10000 BC that the earliest ancestors of modern man roamed the face of the earth. They were slowly beginning to understand the world around them and gradually went on to even control and manipulate the resources around them to their advantage. The human race had genuinely arrived in all its greatness and glory.

To think of this development today, it seems nothing less than a miracle. A small, relatively weak species began to climb up the ecological pyramid even as far more enormous and string creatures like sabretooth, mammoths, etc fell prey to evolutionary realities.

Several anthropologists attribute this spectacular success to the fact that humans have among the most advanced brains of all species. Thus their success can be attributed simply to their identity as a member of the species now called Homo Sapiens.

In reality, however, this is only part of the answer. The real reason for this immense progress is the ability of humans to cooperate and look beyond selfish interests. Only when human society and groups formed did the human race begin to dominate the earth.

It was thus the ability to express compassion and empathy towards others that set us apart from others in the animal kingdom. Being humane allowed the formation of bonds and the progress of human societies as is evident in ancient rock cave paintings of group activities and burial mounds with remains of pets with owners in Harappa. The greatness of humanity lies in being humane - it has gotten us this far and it is going to be the reason for all and any future progress as well.

The human touch in the creation of social structures led to the emergence of class and later caste-based hierarchies. It promoted discrimination against lower castes and was responsible for the inhuman practice of untouchability. Human societies have thus long been plagued by race, religion, caste, etc distinctions.

It wasn’t until a certain Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr came along that societies began to get more human in modern times. While Gandhiji fought against untouchability, king campaigned for racial equality and rights for the black in America. These campaigns led to the formation of a more just and equitable society for all with liberty, equality, and fraternity as its founding principles and realizing social progress.

Even in the field of environment humanity began by seeing itself as the Master of Nature capable of molding it and seeking to control it. This pushed a chain of events of excessive exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation, and finally global warming and climate change threatening the existence of humanity itself.

It is only today that a more humane touch to environmental policy seeks to reverse the damage done. The sustainable development goals and United Nations Framework convention on climate change are attempts to restore the environmental balance. Humanity has begun to take a more humane view of existence on earth seeing it as a shared resource with all other living creatures. The recent steps of declaring rivers and forests as living entities in various countries are proof that a humane attitude is the only way to secure our continued existence as a species on this planet.

The field of economics today is a result of the capitalist system evolving over the years. The human nature of enterprise and profit-making bent of mind fuelled the rise of capitalism. With economic prosperity, however, came evils such as colonialism, exploitation, cronyism, and non-inclusive growth. Unabashed human capitalism led to stark inequalities between the ‘Have’ and the ‘Have-nots’.

The ills plaguing capitalism can only be corrected by the idea of compassionate capitalism (given by Narayan Murthy) which is a more humane form of capitalism. It seeks to ensure equitable benefits of capitalism (Ex. grants company stock down to manual labor as well) and caps on remuneration to top executives. Thus humane capitalism with distributive justice at its core is the way forward for the economic system in the future.

Another recent example of ‘being human’ and ‘being humane’ was seen in the European nation's response to the refugee crisis. While Hungary sealed its borders to pander to basal human instincts of selfishness and hatred, Germany adopted a more humane approach and welcomed all refugees. The consequences of these actions are clear for all today with Germany among the few European nations registering high growth rates amidst a European economic slowdown.

Rapid technological progress has been at the heart of human progress. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, etc, it is worth remembering that Gandhiji considered ‘Science without Humanity’ as one of the Seven Sins. Thus with the talk of cyborgs, robots, and autonomous beings, it is crucial that technological progress never loses sight of its ultimate objective to aid mankind and is guided by humane principles and ethical values rather than human quests for power and control.

Coming to our own country, India, we see how the Indian civilization has always stood for a humane approach to development and social progress. From the ancient Vedic Age to the era of Buddha and right down to the principles of India’s foreign policy post-Independence (non Aligned movement), tolerance, peace, and cooperation have always been a part of the Indian ethos.

The principle of Vasudev Kutumbakam (the world as one family) is the perfect embodiment of being humane to achieve greatness. Recent actions like Operation Insaniyaat to aid Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and evacuation of citizens of openly hostile countries from conflict regions are proof that India has truly accepted the ‘humane way of life’ over a simple human pursuit of national interests.

It becomes clear then that while being human has its advantages and is essential to create/innovate new ideas, it has its limits in terms of contribution to the progress of humanity.

The responsibility of mankind as the most advanced species on the planet is to ensure sustained co-existence with all living beings and an inclusive growth model. Human genius (represented by the mind) led by a ‘humane nature’ (represented by the heart) can lead humanity to greatness.