A brief history of mankind: humans are animals, with close relatives being chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans

We call ourselves higher animals. Compared to other animals, we humans are slightly more advanced. But the problem is that advanced animals are also animals. The so-called advanced is nothing more than us humans boasting about ourselves. So how did we humans make the transition from animals to advanced animals? This question has been studied and to this day there seems to be no clear and detailed answer, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to this study.

The appearance of Homo sapiens tens of thousands of years ago was not very different from that of modern humans. Barring magical accidents (such as gods or aliens), it is known that we evolved from Homo sapiens. We evolved from Homo sapiens, and Homo sapiens evolved from the Southern Archaeopteryx in East Africa. Yes, the fossil southern ape Lucy was called the mother of mankind for this reason. All humans came out of South Africa and although this is a bit unbelievable, research now does show this.

Our close relatives are chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. According to biological classification, we all belong to the same family, the hominids. Homo sapiens is further subdivided into the same subfamily (gorillas), Homo sapiens (chimpanzees), and then Homo sapiens. So we humans are just part of the biological classification and not our special creatures. We are just animals on this planet, but such animals have built civilizations in the course of their evolution.

We know that many different hominids emerged during the evolution of hominids to humans. It is widely believed that these apes evolved step by step and eventually became Homo sapiens. But in reality, the evolutionary route was not a linear one as shown in the diagram. But different races existed on Earth at the same time. These races and humans are of the same kind of animal. However, since the beginning, humans have been from the part of East Africa. The result was that all the other races disappeared, leaving only the homo sapiens, who evolved into humans, to 'dominate' the planet.

If other races had had a chance to survive, our lives might be different now. There are several possible scenarios to speculate on. If the premise is that other races developed civilizations, then the first possibility is that we humans and other races coexisted peacefully on this planet. Since time immemorial, there have been other people on Earth with the same intelligence as humans and without war. It is not difficult to imagine that other races are like other nations and that we humans are a nation. There must be some kind of agreement to keep each other safe.

However, this is somewhat unlikely. Wars between human races have been normal, both in history and in the present. Sometimes, if war is not mentioned for years, powerful nations will simply wipe out other nations, or annex them. It is not unusual for other races to be wiped out without any power.

So it must have become a second possibility that we humans are constantly competing with other races for the position of the overlord of the earth and its various resources. Although only humans exist on our present Earth, we cannot say that the result now is that humans have defeated the other races, because we don't know why the other races disappeared. Also, it disappeared before the other races produced civilization, so it could be considered a possibility.

If the premise is that the other races did not develop civilization, then a third possibility is that the other races existed just like the other animals, and may even have been enslaved. When it comes to the way we treat other animals, we cannot be too friendly to other races. How can people leave them alone, especially when they have had enough tools?

Of course, all of the above is conjecture, perhaps unreasonable, perhaps real. There is no chance that we will ever meet; the reality is set. But no matter what happens between humans and other races, what will never change is that humans are animals. We really shouldn't claim to be masters of the earth and decide the fate of other animals, let alone think we are.

About these elements, Yuval Harari explains them to us in Yuval Harari's A Brief History of Mankind. One thing that strikes me as good is that they certainly deal with facts that we are not sure of. Whenever such content is written, Yuval Harari describes all the possibilities for us one by one, very objectively, without leading the reader or other readers to think. And he also authenticates from many sources to restore the truth for us as much as possible. So this book is not boring at all, it's also interesting. If you are interested in this, get a copy and read it. You won't be disappointed!