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TANGENTS

Who's Zooming Who?

BY IHTISHAM KABIR
Last time, I wrote about the cataclysmic effect of the ascendancy of humans on other species - particularly mammals - of our planet. Being the only sentient being on earth, one endowed with intelligence and the power to differentiate between good and evil, we humans are naturally inclined to believe that only we control and domesticate other beings on this planet.
But what if that is wrong? What if other forms of life domesticated us?
Such is the reasoning of authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and Yuval Harrari (Sapiens.)
Both authors start with the basic premise that the species are engaged in a never-ending struggle for survival and proliferation. The species that evolve the appropriate physique and behaviours to win this struggle are the winners.
Sometimes one species uses another to further its cause. A simple example is bees and flowers: flowers produce nectar to feed bees which in turn spread pollen enabling the flowering plant to reproduce.
More subtle is the interaction of the grass family with humans. In its evolutionary drive to spread far and wide on this planet, these authors argue, the grass family domesticated humans to do its bidding: clear out trees, keep weeds at bay, and help grass proliferate.
The domestication happened in two stages. In the first stage grass evolved to become tasty and nutritious for other animals which were, in turn, tasty and nutritious for humans - that is, cattle. So humans cut down forests to make pastures to cattle could graze. Grass harnessed the intelligence and muscles of humans to assist its spread. This was perennial grass, growing year-long.
In the second stage, the nutritionally dense seeds of certain types of grass came into play. Wheat came first, then other cereals such as rice, corn, maize etc. These were annual grasses, needing a lot more care for growing. The intermediary - cattle - was eliminated as humans simply ate the seeds. And it was humans who helped this spread far and wide.
Ten thousand years ago, wheat was just an insignificant wild grass confined to parts of the Middle
East. Today, wheat fields on earth occupy ten times the area of the United Kingdom.
How did this happen? It was through the Agricultural Revolution, when our ancestors went from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists to farmers, that the grass family domesticated humans.
Harrari argues this was a bad bargain for humans. The agricultural revolution reduced quality of life, increased mortality and resulted in poor health for humans. For example, working in the fields to meet the demands of growing cereals - bring water, till the land and take out rocks and pebbles, build fences, pull out weeds - was backbreaking work that reduced the ample leisure time that our hunter-gatherer ancestors had.
Further, this kind of work was against the natural capabilities of the human physique which had evolved for "climbing apple trees and chasing gazelles." So
farmwork exacted a heavy toll on knees, spines and backs of the farmer. According to Harari, ancient human skeletons show the transition from hunting to agriculture was accompanied by a remarkable increase in slipped disks, bad backs, arthritis and hernia.
And of course, to find more farmland people cleared out forests, something we continue doing today. Grass family - in the guise of wheat, rice, and other cereals - got more space to grow, more sunshine, more nutrients.
So in the long, drawn-out evolutionary game, grass emerged winner over trees. It did so by domesticating and utilizing humans.
The next time you feel like you are boss because you are human, think about those harmless looking blades of grass and the game they have played.
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