I write this anthropological study of how society has evolved into our current state of harmony. My name is Sharbat Gula, I am an aspiring female studying in the university of Kabul. I am undertaking PHD research in Socio-biology. I originated in a small farming town outside of Kabul. As a child I helped my parents and one of my brothers, Jalup, grow crops. Mostly, I just ate fruit from the gardens and played with my friends. Jalup and I also explored the forests at the base of the mountains surrounding my home. Here we would pick mushrooms and spy on native animals on the mountain sides. We both had wild imaginations of living up there near the snow and in caves. I also used to get up to a fair bit of trouble and generally learnt my lessons the hard way. Like the time I learned about gravity by falling out of a large Pistachio tree. Family life for me was confusing as I was considerably younger than my siblings, they had all seemed to have gone their own ways and that included my parents. I had to be resourceful but needed to learn the lessons of the world by myself. Materials needed to support my education were always provided by my parents. But these two humans I was to learn from most about relationships seldom saw eye to eye. A storm of emotions could be wiped up between my parents and I learnt that this behaviour was normal. Confusion about human emotions probably led to my lack of awareness of right and wrong. My enthusiasm for life however was never dampened and I would get into all manner of mischief. Never being without enthusiasm and later obtaining good university marks brought the attention of my lecturers and interesting times. I tramped the country looking for endangered plants to propagate. I spent all holidays locked in a room developing new software. Other times I sped up dirt tracks on my motorbike as yet more adventurous behaviour. People used to asked why do you do this or that. I think it was my addictive personality and a passion for the new. When I first started university I barely knew why I was embarking on this road, slowly my interests grew. A grit and determination got me through my degree and subsequent PHD. What surprised me most about university is its practical application to real world issues.
Humans are obviously part of the worlds biology and have evolved from the traits of animals. To me it was fascinating to investigate how humans became cooperative and rid themselves of aggressive behaviour. Had it not been for certain decisions made early in the industrial revolution we could have become a very different society. I would hate to think what our current advanced technology could have led us had we not kerbed aggressive self-interested behaviour. An understanding of our peculiarities as a species drove me to more knowledge. This is the story of what changed human behaviour from self-interest to a more sustainable community.
Early in my degree my professor Abdur Rahman had been engaged by the United Nations. His role was an extensive statistical analysis of economic costs of human behaviour. More specifically he was looking at the costs of negative behaviour resulting from conflicts. His study concluded that should humans have continued on their destructive path from the middle ages a number of wars would have ensued at considerable cost to innovation, ecosystems, productivity and human life itself. Abdur was a small man who had a poor grasp of the English language. He was highly intellectual and I can only hazard a guess of his IQ, but it would be very high. As Pesian was my first language I understood Abdur very well. Foreign students had to listen hard to his broken English and probably did not grasp his intellect and inquiring mind. For me this was wonderful, here I could use his knowledge exclusively. Abdur pushed me to think like my father and I love him for that. Based on Abdur’s research the statistics indicated there was a 75% probability of 3 world wars in the 20th century. There was also a 90% probability of 100 smaller wars in and between countries. He ascertained that these wars would cost in excess of 10 trillion dollars ($10 000 000 000 000) in today’s value.
For me Abdur’s interest in this subject had an added dimension. I was brought up by two parents that could barely agree on anything. As a small child it looked a lot like conflict in my own house. Both my parents encouraged me to question my assumptions. I remember my father pushing me to think what is the difference of being alive or dead. What is the difference, what element exists in a living thing? At a young age I struggled answering this interesting question. I also wondered if there was a better way than conflict. I found my time in the forest gave me a freedom I craved. In relationships I asked myself was there a conflict between relationships and freedom? These questions and more drove my thirst for knowledge.
