Use the difficulties

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Use the difficulties, Michael Caine

In an interview, the Hollywood veteran actor, spoke about how he was asked to Use the difficulties, by his director, when he faced an unexpected challenge in a scene. Use the difficulties mean, to use the adversity to find a solution.

The ancient humans probably did just that. – Use the difficulties, every time they faced a situation where inaction or wrong step could have wiped the human species.  How they responded is not just a fascinating history but our own story, worth retelling and lessons worth exploring.

The incredible human Journey 

Ever since their emergence, over 3 million years ago, the journey of early humans has been nothing short of fascinating. The volatile planet did not make this journey any easier for them with challenges like geological events and harsh weather conditions. They had to compete with predators for scarce food.  Shelter & safety were daily challenges. If these were not hard enough, as a young species, their cognitive abilities were not fully developed to cope with such harsh challenges. Furthermore, they were susceptible to diseases, making their existence even more precarious. The odds could not have been worse.  

Yet, they survived.

Along this arduous journey across thousands of years, they adapted and evolved. They learnt to use clothing, fire and stone tools.  Their hunting strategies and social collaboration skills improved. Their overall cognitive capabilities improved and humans were ready for the upcoming pivotal phases of our history, that would start with the Pleistocene Glaciation or the end of the last ice age (Approximately, 12,000 years ago)

Human history is a testament to our species’ remarkable ability to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity. Our ancestors used the difficulties they faced and found innovative solutions to overcome the hardships they faced. This remarkable journey of survival and evolution of early humans shaped the course of great civilizations. 

However, our history also serves as a poignant reminder of the impermanence of civilizations and the fickleness of our being, when we fail to adapt or fail to Use the difficulties.

Three Pivotal Phases of human history 

In my personal view, three pivotal phases played a key role in shaping human history. These 3 phases provided opportunities equally loaded with adversities and vice versa. How the ancient humans responded is not just our history but a fascinating story worth retelling and powerful lessons worth remembering, 

1) The Icebreaker: 

The end of the last Ice Age led to rising sea levels and formation of rivers. The landscape changed and humans started setting near rivers and learned to live off them. This new environment and adaptation posed new challenges that the humans had never experienced before. In response, our ancestors not just developed innovative solutions to overcome these new difficulties, but actually Use the difficulties to their advantage.

When the rivers flooded from time to time they developed canals, levees, dikes to not just control the floods but to actually use them for agriculture. They also developed early warning systems to track water levels or a calendar system to predict the flood cycle. Such sophisticated systems of agriculture and irrigation systems revolutionized food production. This laid the foundation for the emergence of civilizations like the Indus Valley (IVC), Ancient Egypt and Sumer.

2) Leaving No Stone Unturned:  

The Neolithic period (Circa 10,000 to 4,000 (y.a) laid the foundation on which the remarkable history of our race would be built on. The early human invention of polished stone during the stone age, was a game changer for a while but the limitations of stone posed  considerable challenges. 

Once again our future depended on how we responded. 

Yet again, they found solutions by actually using these difficulties. The difficulties of stones was used to observe the properties of clay and develop light weight potteries. The versatile pottery  eliminated the need for stone based containers to prepare, store food and store water. They also reduced the reliance on stone hearth & ovens for cooking.

If pottery made the lady of the house smile, the invention of the wheel (6,000 to 5,500 y.a) revolutionized transportation, enabled trade and enabled animal drawn plows for agriculture. Wheel was invented by observing the movement of round objects like rolling stones.

This period also saw symbolic expressions and rock carvings, which were the building blocks for  written communication that would be developed in a few 1000’s of years. 

These innovations accelerated human progress.

3) Putting ‘Metal to the Pedal’:

If the stone age created momentum to the human journey, then the discovery of metalworking, around 6,500 years ago propelled it forward at a rapid pace. The discovery of metalworking, such as copper, bronze and later Iron led to advancements in agriculture, trade, and warfare. 

But metal working posed significant challenges. Metal ores were scarce, and extracting, processing, and shaping them required considerable skill and effort. Invention of new techniques like smelting & refining was used to overcome the challenges of extracting metal from ore. 

The early metals were brittle and this was overcome by creation of  alloys like bronze (copper+tin). 

The limitations of early tools and techniques drove the development of new tools, such as hammers, anvils, and tongs, which enabled more efficient and precise metalworking. 

Yet again, the early humans proved that the only way forward is to Use the difficulties

All three civilizations (IVC, Ancient Egypt, Sumer) developed unique urban designs, house architecture and various solutions to address the local challenges caused on account of unique  climatic conditions, nature of soil, available materials etc.

How The Mighty Have Fallen: 

Failing to Use the difficulties:

The world is an unforgiving place. The mighty empires of old, which once shone like beacons of adaptability, ingenuity and played a massive role in shaping the modern world, eventually succumbed to the ravages of time, leaving behind only remnants of their former glory.

The Indus Valley Civilization, with its sophisticated urban planning and advanced water management systems were impressive, but their  lack of adaptability to changing environmental conditions led to their downfall.  

The once-mighty Sumerians failed to manage their irrigation systems effectively, leading to soil salinization and decreased agricultural productivity. They gradually declined as their cities were ravaged by wars and environmental degradation. 

Ancient Egypt, with its towering pyramids and majestic temples, slowly crumbled under the weight of internal strife, external invasions, and the relentless march of the desert sands. Their over reliance on Nile was also a major factor as they failed to keep up with the changes in flooding patterns of this mighty river. 

The Wheel Of Time: 

The Indus Valley, Sumerians, and Ancient Egypt attained glory with their ingenuity, keeping pace with the changes and more importantly, turning adversities to opportunities. But all of them eventually failed when they forgot the basics that made them successful. After thriving for thousands of years, they failed to adapt to environmental changes or internal conflicts or external threats leading to their decline.

There are very many lessons that can be learned from the rise and fall of the 3 greatest civilizations of ancient times. Many great civilizations and empires  followed in the next thousands of years across the globe. Mycenean (3,600 to 3,100 y.a), Mayan (3,000 to 2,500 y.a), Mauryan Empire (2,346 to 2,209 y.a) Roman Empire (2,000 to 1,500 y.a), Gupta Empire (1,704 to 1,474 y.a), Inca (586 to 491 y.a), The Mughal Empire (498 to 167 y.a), Ottoman Empire (725 to 102 y.a).

However, a quick glance at their history will leave you disappointed because of how they met with the same fate as the 3 ancient civilizations . And the sad part is, all of them failed for similar reasons as the Indus valley civilization, Ancient Egypt and Sumer – environmental changes or internal conflicts or external threats.

The wheel of time has indeed made history repeat itself.

The Modern World

The world has come a long way from the last days of these ancient empires & civilizations. We have developed Artificial Intelligence, mastered Space Technology, we can do a DNA analysis of a the earliest human who was buried deep under the earth couple of million years ago. And of course, we have social media. The ancient civilizations collapsed for reasons like Climate change, Internal Strife, Wars.

Ancient reasons that may not affect us. Right? 

But wait.

Isn’t it funny that we are are still grappling with the same threats. This only proves that we are still the same people that developed the wheel or a pottery or built the Pyramids or the great bath of Mohenjo-Daro. The wheel of time continues to turn. Will we let the history repeat again?

But now we also have nuclear weapons. What can possibly go wrong?