Part I
Dipping a toe in
The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert makes for an immersive experience. Written about
the circumstance, i.e., the sixth extinction that man has driven the planet
into, it makes for a fascinating read. In parts, it reminded me of Sapiens, an
absolute ripper of a book by Yuval Noah Harari. Although the areas of
discussion in the books overlap in a few places, the differences in
perspectives and narratives allow the reader to take away different ideas
from each read. In this three-part series, I will attempt to juxtapose what I saw as the major joint-takeaways
from the books.
The Sixth Extinction examines the
repercussions of man's steamrolling of every possible delicate ecosystem that
the planet amassed over billions of years. Kolbert is meticulous with her
details, and doesn’t ease up on the rate at which she plods through fact after
fact, species after species (with their scientific names). The writing is
detailed and occasionally humorous, with a touch a flourish thrown in.
Kolbert traipses across geographical boundaries, examining threats that various
life forms-corals, rhinos, amphibians, bats among numerous others, face because
of the actions of man. Unlike Haari, she does not concern herself with the evolution of the
lifestyle that has led the planet into the sixth extinction. She
busies herself with museum and field visits, discussions with scientists and
conservationists, and with the study of endangered species. The Sixth Extinction is a demanding read,
because of the sheer number of species, their lifestyles and their battles
against a rapidly changing environment that she discusses. She is objective
with her findings and, in spite of bleak future projections, remains hopeful
for the biodiversity of the planet.
Kolbert begins her book with a
journey to Panama, where she traces the phenomenon of the Panamian
golden frogs (Atelopus zeteki) dropping dead, almost as if cursed. The rate of their disappearance
forces the locals to demand of the conservationists, "What happened to the
frogs? We don't hear them calling anymore". The reader learns that frogs
are dropping dead, across the world, even in pristine places. Kolbert handles
the narrative like a proficient student of science. Journeying from the banks
that mark mass graveyards of frogs, to labs (where the killer is identified as
a type of fungus), Kolbert’s interactions with field biologists and
conservationists make it an extraordinarily thorough, and engaging narrative; heartbreaking, but deeply engaging. She uses this specific narrative arch later
on in the book as well, when she writes about the dying bats of the world.
Sapiens, for its part, is the
entire story of the human race. It traces the history of the evolution-genetic,
cultural, societal and technological; of the Homo sapiens. Harari's writing is
deeply enjoyable. He is witty, insightful and has no qualms in calling out the
innumerable fallacies of the human race. 'Sapiens' is impeccable in its
efforts. Harari travels linearly along the timeline of man, offering
observations on the cultural evolution of the species-from the days of a hunter
gatherer to the modern days of a coder. Sapiens is idea-driven, with
Yuval Noah Harari introducing idea after astonishing idea on the human race and
then proceeding to supplement them with evidence.
An example of the many interesting ideas that
Harari examines, is how the evolution of the human language (among other
things) led to the global dominance of the species. More important than knowing
where a killer-lion licks its wounds, Harari says, it was more important for
the hunter-gatherer human to “know who in
their band hates whom, who is sleeping with whom, who is honest, and who is a
cheat”. As a subsection of the miracle of human language, it is incredibly
interesting to read that ours is the only race that is able to talk about “entire entities that have never been
touched or smelled”. It isn't a shockingly new thought, one could argue, it
is one that could have entered a reasonably proactive mind. But Harari doesn’t
merely introduce distinct ideas; he uses multiple ideas to uncover
interesting ways of examining the human race. Another key to understanding what
lead to the sapiens domination is how staggeringly vast numbers of the race are
willing to cooperate with each other. When Harari puts the two ideas together,
of the human ability to fiercely believe in “things
that don't really exist”, and the ability to cooperate in large numbers, we
arrive at ideals that rule our world today-patriotism, religions, legal codes,
and numerous other beliefs that dictate our lives. Continued in Part II
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