The self destruct button of civilization.

Human beings were much better off living as hunter gatherers wrote J Lanchester in "The case against civilization". He makes a distinction between technology and science. "Wheels and wells, cranks and mills and gears and ships' masts, clocks and rudders and crop rotation: all have been crucial to human and economic development, and none historically had any connection with what we think of today as science." According to Prof JC Scott, the most important piece of technology was the control of fire, for which we are indebted to our ancestors, Homo erectus. Fire allowed us to cook food which gave more energy to develop our brains. Evidence of the use of fire by humans is found in southern Africa. "The earliest, oldest strata of the caves contain whole skeletons of carnivores and many chewed-up bone fragments of the things they were eating, including us. Then comes the layer from when we discovered fire, and ownership of the caves switches: the human skeletons are whole, and carnivores are bone fragments." Then came farming and everything changed. Farming of grains led to development of societies and the arrival of the taxman. Plough agriculture became man's work and women stayed at home to look after children and the house. Agriculture needs land and perhaps the first wars were fought over ownership of land, which were more fertile and created more wealth for inhabitants. Fire allowed the use of metals and the oldest bows and arrows date back to 9,000 BCE. Wheels were used for making chariots and iron was used for making armor. Writing was invented in Mesopotamia and for half a century after that it was used only for bookkeeping, keeping an account of what everyone possessed so as to tax them. Our government has proudly announced the collection of Rs 3.86 trillion in direct taxes from April to September this year. Since our politicians believe that every citizen is a criminal we have to provide our photographs, prints of all 10 fingers and iris scans for the privilege of paying income tax. Forget chains made of iron, digital chains are oh so comfortable. J Suzman studied Bushmen in southern Africa who still live as hunter gatherers. They spend 17 hours a week in finding adequate amounts of food, 19 hours a week in domestic chores and had an average calorie intake of 2,300 a day. He calls it "Affluence without abundance." No need to accumulate. As humans fled Chernobyl, wild animals have taken refuge and are thriving, a dramatic proof that nature needs to be protected from science. Perhaps, humans need to be protected from science as well as some predict humans being wiped out by robots. But, robots have no emotion and cannot appreciate art or music, so what would be the reason for their existence? Perhaps, if we civilize them they will eliminate each other.