World is moved by ideas

Events in human history, even the best and worst events, are not the result of heroic actions or villainous acts. If we take, for example, the wholesale murder of six million innocent Jews it could not have been caused by one person, even one as villainous as Adolf Hitler. Then how could he have by himself convinced a highly educated and intelligent people like the Germans to do his bidding. The root of this terrible period came from an idea – the idea of racial Aryan superiority.

Here in Asia, Mao Zedong was able to convince millions of Chinese to voluntarily give up their urban lives and move to the countryside. His only weapon was a little red book containing the thoughts of Mao Zedong.

There are many examples in human history which show that it is ideas that basically influence human behavior. Cooking changed human lifestyle, which was the result of the discovery of fire. Once fire was discovered (not invented), this led to other major events like the making of tools and using the fire to protect against wild animals. Unfortunately, it also led to the invention of weapons.

For those who are interested in learning more about this topic, I would highly recommend two books.

The first is a seminal book for those who want to conduct a thorough and deeper study on the study of ideas. This book is IDEAS : A History from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson. In this book, he describes the history of ideas from antiquity to the present day, leading to a new way of understanding our world and ourselves.

The book begins nearly two million years ago with the invention of hand axes and explores how some of mankind’s most important discoveries may have originated before humans had language. The book goes on to consider not politics, not the battles and treaties of kings, generals and rulers but how the most important ideas by which we live have evolved.

Watson explores the first languages and the first word, the birth of gods, the origins of art and the consequences of money. He describes the invention of writing, early ideas about law, why sacrifice and the soul have proved so enduring in religion.

He explains how ideas about time evolve, how numbers were conceived, how science, mathematics, medicine, sociology, economics and capitalism came into being. He shows how the discovery of the New World changed forever the way we think.

In this book, Watson shows us the linkages down the ages in the ideas of apparently disparate philosophers, astronomers, religious leaders inventors, poets, jurists and many others – Aristotle with Aquinas, Ptolemy with Photius, Kalidasa with Zhu Xi, Beethoven with Strindberg, Jefferson with Freud.

The next book is 1001 IDEAS That Changed the Way We Think  edited by Robert Arp. The editor says this is a comprehensive guide to the “most imaginative thoughts from the finest minds in history.”

It does include, in its collection, a range of philosophers including Confucius and Plato to today’s cutting edge philosophers.

Actually I found the 1001 questions more interesting. There are short readable answers to some of the most profound questions in history. How was the universe created and what is the place of humans within it? How should a person live? How can we build a just society?

For those interested in intellectual trivia, there are several in this book. What is the concept of transmigration of souls in parallel universes? What are the theoretical paradoxes of time travel like what happens if you travel back in time and kill your own grandfather?

There are interesting narratives like how Greek philosopher Zeno “proved” a flying arrow never moved or how modern science has shown that a butterfly’s wings can stir up an Atlantic storm and the mathematical proof of life in other galaxies.

There are also inspirational ideas included in the book, like Gandhi’s civil disobedience and Henry David Thoreau’s praise of the simple life. There are also narratives on cultural movements like Neoclassicism, Surrealism and Postmodernism.

The book begins with human control of fire and honoring the dead. It ends with commercial space flight and Not-junk DNA.

This is really more of a quick survey book. But it is definitely worth reading.

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Young Writers’ Hangout via Zoom resumes : January 15 & 29, 2-3 pm., with Roel Cruz and Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, respectively.

Write Things takes special pride in the release of a book “My Cat Ate My Book,” by one of its most regular students since its inception in 2013, Marion Claire K. Chan, 12. This is a slim hardbound collection of essays and poems with a very attractive cover. Her first essay is “Perfecting Procrastination.” She also writes about the cats in her village. Proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Childhope Foundation, Inc.

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