Rain clouds again today. It's been weeks of dark and gloom. To add to this, a burglary in the middle of the night, with the iron grill that protects our first floor balcony hacked and forced open, our space trespassed, and my Sony handycam stolen. But grateful that we were not harmed, and that my desktop computer that I use for work was not taken!
We are shaken at the thought of these thieves who walked into our home in the middle of the night. It gives us a sense of how vulnerable we are, and how fragile our doors and grills to such a violation. Apart from the physical breach of our home space, there is the transgression into our mind space, into our peace, and into our sense of being safe.
Now, we keep the lights in the balcony on all night. Now, I wake up with a dread, and walk around in the middle of the night, checking that the doors are still bolted tight. There is a guilty sense of the fear and dread that millions of people living in war zones must live with for years, and possibly die with. More than that, a realization that the sense of safety we had been living with was largely just fiction concocted in our minds - that no one can breach those grills.
Speaking of fiction, I recently met my cousin whose happy six year old is learning about the difference between fiction and non-fiction in grade 1. It surprised me. Has this distinction become so critical that it must be taught to children in grade 1? Must our six year olds learn to coldly classify and label Santa Claus, fairies,elves and brownies, genies and magic carpets, and wands and wizards as not-real, and just fiction? And then, the thought crossed my mind - could a child at age six or even perhaps at age ten, or thirteen, or even fifteen possibly grasp this distinction, when in today's world, full grown adults have difficulty identifying fiction from non-fiction? A whole generation of youngsters (my own included) having spent countless hours chasing Pokemon, and hence saved from a life of crime, suddenly being asked to put their minds on Reset:It's Just Fiction. To this point, when I asked the happy six year old whether fairies are fiction or non-fiction - she happily declared: 'Of course fairies are NON-fiction!'
For more on fiction vs non-fiction, do read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. A gripping story full of insights about the human race that will help you understand why you feel so restless sitting at your desk all day and why you need to be out on the savanna. It tells of our origins and evolution as a species, and how the spread of humanity has left destruction in its wake. No, really, it's true, humans have left a trail of destruction wherever they've gone!
But what led to this limitless spread of our species? Harari explains that what sets us apart from ants and chimps is our ability to comprehend fiction and stories. It is this ability to narrate and share real and not so real stories, and create shared meaning, that has played a dominant role in unifying humans. It is our ability to suspend disbelief and embrace fiction that helped build cohesive societies capable of fighting predators and enemies, colonizing the world, obliterating all that stands in our way.
Legends, myths, gods, and religions appeared for the first time with the Cognitive Revolution. Many animals and human species could previously say ‘Careful! A lion! Thanks to the Cognitive Revolution, Homo sapiens acquired the ability to say. ‘The lion is the guardian spirit of our tribe.’ This ability to speak about fictions is the most unique feature of Sapiens language…You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.Hear him speak here. Read what he says about humans being a 'post-truth species'.
A sinking sense of how much our lives are ruled by fiction. As more and more incidents of senseless lynchings are reported in India, as mobs run amok fueled by fiction (a.k.a.fake news). As wars and bombings for a variety of 'causes' continue all over the world around us. A realization that the very fiction that once bonded humans and made them strong - is now being used to tear us apart and destroy us.
But not all fiction is destructive. Sometimes fiction can be revealing of truth, a metaphor, an analogy, perhaps an easier way of facing and coming to terms with truth. The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. I could not put this down. Listen to it here. A beautiful, magical, (fictional) tale of coming to terms with our true selves. Though it may fall into the category of children's literature, to my mind, the telling of the story was hypnotic, and enchanting, as it drew me into its world of dragons, and the hard work of wizardry and learning about our own true nature.Even if it's just fiction.
