In his book ' Sapiens ', I find it fascinating that Yuval Harari refers to the construction of a tower representing human progress. He compares a tower constructed of mud bricks and wood to a tower built of steel and concrete. He conjectures that the steel and concrete tower 'would grow story by story as far as the eye can see'. The mud and wood tower would disintegrate at some critical point.

The book was published in 2011 and failed to perceive the inevitable complexity of contemporary society. I find it fascinating to compare it with the story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible and how God intervened with a divisive hand in human affairs. The steel and concrete tower has no doubt reached its critical point. 

The emergence of the pandemic and the ensuing chaos is not unlike the scriptural account of the Tower of Babel. A cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause was detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. There are several theories about the origin of the first case. The virus is thought to be of natural animal origin.

A profusion of misinformation and conspiracy theories followed regarding prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Deliberate false information has been scattered through social media and mass media. Incorrect information has been propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures.

The ensuing chaos is costly and can lead to the demise of a culture. The codependent nature of all that holds the steel and concrete tower together is becoming fragmented and unstable. The entire population has become obsessed, even hypnotised. There is so much contradiction and confusion that the masses have lost their sense of rational thought and judgment. 

Information is constantly being compiled about us; we are in danger of being globally ushered in a direction we would prefer to avoid.  

 I find it extraordinarily fascinating reading 'Sapiens' the book written by Yuval Harari. I have always been fascinated by the emergence of early humans in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago. Fossil evidence of early advanced humans emerged in Africa from around this period.

Our early relatives were hunter-gatherers. While seeking nutrition, they gathered edible vegetation, butchered large animals, and scavenged the kills of lions and other predators. While I was aware that they migrated northwards and populated the inhabitable portions of this planet, it all seemed fundamental enough knowledge. 

I have been entirely unaware of the devastation of the flora and fauna that accompanied their progress. I could envision a degree of disruption to the vegetation and the resident wildlife but not to the extent that it seems they might have been responsible for having committed.

Through the ages, those early wise humans (sapiens, the one who knows) achieved extraordinary feats in adapting to the challenging climatic conditions they encountered as they overwhelmed the planet. 

In a sense, one might be tempted to respond with some pride being our early ancestors, but it is also apparent that they had little regard for the destruction of the environment. We have inherited that characteristic; acting like our early relatives, we proceed without concern for future resources or the planet's health. We strip it of all it has to offer.

Unlike the domino effect often used to illustrate a causal impact, our predicament is more like the Tower of Babel in the Bible. The story unveils how God intervenes with a divisive hand in human affairs. There is a tipping point to all human endeavours based upon greed, deceit and deception. As we seek to construct a tower comprising many fragile codependent entities, the structure will disintegrate as it is built.