Monkey Memes

I don't know where I came across this meme because it would probably stretch out even a supercomputer to keep track of the origins of all the memes that an ordinary person comes across in a few hours on social media. The meme said, "You cannot get a monkey to give up the banana in its paws by promising limitless bananas in the after-life" or something similar attributed to Yuval Noah Harari. Comments ranging from 'Profound' to 'Even animals are wiser' to 'Yuval Noah Harari' surrounded by love and fire emojis deluged that post.

Now, it is quite possible that the chap said it...or not. Quite possible that it made sense in the context in which he said it. So, I do not intend ANY comments on this Yuval chap or about what he said. But, for the life of me, I cannot see that this meme, BY ITSELF, proves the profound wisdom of monkeys over humans. Which may not even BE the message that the author intended but seems to have been the message that people took away from it.

Ever tried telling a monkey to eat bitter-gourd instead of bananas because it was heading towards a diabetic future, otherwise? Or to limit its eating to lesser bananas than it has at hand, for fear of obesity and its related health issues? If you did, what lessons did the profound wisdom of the monkeys hold for humanity? (Ah! Well! It does not work very well with humans either, not till you actually HAVE diabetes or high BP or whatever but THAT is because, in that, we have imbibed the profound wisdom of the monkeys!)

You see, the issue in all this is the same. Monkey do not believe in 'postponement of gratification' for a future good. It is just that, and NOT any rational lack of belief in the after-life, which makes them eat the banana at hand rather than hope for a la-la land of infinite bananas after death.

Have you ever tried to teach a monkey to be compassionate to a weaker monkey? Tried to teach them that 'Might is NOT right' and convinced them on the virtues of democracy? Or to not bully and drive out, if not kill, any monkey with different features and color than that of its tribe? Or did the profoundly wise monkeys already have all those attributes? No?

The hatred of what is different IS one of the instincts that carries forth from the basic animal nature of human beings. We have only ADDED elements of difference, beyond just the apparent physical differences, but the basic instinct is something we share with...err...the monkeys! The whole moral progression of humanity - almost all of what we call HUMANE characteristics - is a bid to rise above those instincts, not revert back to them.

Fight for change where change is needed, by all means. But do not invite the wisdom of the animals to bolster your point. As it is, humanity seems to be reverting back to basic animal instincts all too fast even without being egged on to do so by these monkey memes!