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| Seems like He had DNA as well |
Feeling special is one attribute that homo-sapiens value way more than any other species. We can get into the debate of other species also feel special or they have emotions etc. But, remember in just last 2 sentences, we almost all agree that it is about us and other species, isn’t it? How many times do we use animals and think of us as a part of greater mammal species? It is not about how we feel, when there is a topic in hand, a debate is announced and stage is set. When such a scene is setup, most of us can beat or equal most politicians in creating a new façade for the audience of the debate. I am not saying, neither do I know, if we do it intentionally. It is just the way, this feeling of being special has become a part of us. It is almost like there is a dedicated biological gene responsible for this feeling. And for thousands of years, it has only mutated to make it stronger.
It is just not about us as a species being superior to other species. It is a very subtle attribute that surfaces in various situations and circumstances. It is present when we talk about my boy is special than others or my cat is better than your dog. How George Clooney is handsome or how Julia Roberts deserved special attention, just because she did not shave her armpits. First level is the direct level, when we feel special about something or somebody we have direct relation with e.g. My girl is the most beautiful in her class. Next level is when we feel special about 3rd person’s achievement, even when we have never met the person, but just we read some where by ourselves e.g. lots of Indian’s suddenly feeling proud of being Indian when Satya Nadella was names CEO of Microsoft. I am not sure how many knew his name before that news came out. Then comes the interesting level about stories, which we just heard as a story from someone about something, in someone else’s perspective. Just that we found that it made us feel special, we would start embracing it, as a mother embrace her child. For the completeness sake let me take the example of God or any other form of it, that people happens to feel strongly about.
Recently, a social experiment video became viral and caught attention on the similar basis (at least in my opinion). It was all over on all kind of NEWS websites, social networks or any medium possible to spread it. Every website had thousands of comments by people connected with this idea. The idea of Global unification, the “One Human race” model. The people in the video themselves are so attached with it. If you watch it again, then you may notice that one thing remain common, they still have the need to feel special. Earlier they were special because of their country, religion etc. Later now they were so special to be part of even bigger race. But the feeling of being special remained there.
I happened to have discussions with different people who were so excited to see this video and were so connected with the message. What I got from the discussions was what I wrote above, the need to feel special. If the same information was put in simple way, in fact put it in simple way again as it was done by Darwin’s evolution theory, then maybe nobody would have bothered about it. It might have been ignored by reading the title, Darwin’s theory, yeah-yeah, evolution and selection-of-the-fittest and so. We know it already. Did all these people not read Darwin’s theory? I am not saying the whole book, but at least the idea? Video is based on only 67 people, so it probably possible, that they did not, but what about the rest of the following crowd on Internet? Nobody got this message whenever they talked about evolution? If they did, why this video feels so special?
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| A new DNA testing method from Kyoto University can confirm blood relations with relatives as distant as second cousins. |
It is the message that makes all the difference, of course along with the fact the medium used for the message is a video and not an old fashioned text (e.g. this blog 🙂 ). This video clearly picks up the message that makes everyone feel special. While on the other hand Evolution theory was simply a scientific concept, detailing the biological advancement. It did not give people the “feeling of being special”. Isn’t this is reason, why people remember those who can come on stage and give speeches that make people connect with their messages? While the people who did the indigenous work in the background, remain known only to few. E.g. How many knows Steve Jobs vs Dennis Ritchie ?
It is still only the feeling of being special that made the people connect with this message. If you point out to people the meaning of the message, then most of them run away from this idea that all of us are cousins! I happened to have a this discussion in a group. One person, lets call her Gabby, mentioned this video with a great excitement. She explained all the idea and how she as a youngster knew this already that we are all connected. We are all brothers and sisters and need to love and respect each other. When I heard her talking so emotionally about it, I smiled and asked are your about this universal love and respect. She was affirmative about it that this is the only way. As it was just a gossip over a dinner table, the discussion moved to another hot topics. Suddenly, someone, let’s call Rambo, mentioned about some cases about strange suicides and killings. In one case , someone put up an advertisement that he wants to die and he would prefer if someone would hit him. To his delight, someone (Thor) replied that he accepts Rambo’s request. You can read the “eat-me-alive” suicide news by yourself. This is one example. Another discussion came up, when another guy told about some massacre, where one guy randomly opened fire in public and killed a lot of people. This was the time when Gabby was in shock and abusing such people with hate. I smiled again and asked again that just about 15 min ago, you mentioned about your universal brotherhood and love and respect for all. Why hate these people, after all they are also cousins and need your love. It is not their fault, if their genes or life happened to take this turn. Gaby could not agree to love these “cousins” and remarked that these kind of people are not my cousins!
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| We found DNA, now what games are possible with it? |
This is how special we have become. We always find a way for us to make special. Even in the last statement, Gaby managed to find a way that how she and rest of the cousins are special. I am not saying this video is stupid or it should not be made. My point is that humans have special way to interpret messages. Some people know how to make use of that. I smiled when I watched this video for the first time and after every time when I had discussion with people like Gaby. I hope this blog brought some smiles on the face of my “distance cousins”. If not my writing then at least the video.
Keep Smiling
Love
Arundeep Singh
Nasrudin had a cousin who went to live far away, and left some of his possessions with Nasrudin.
One day, the cousin’s cat died, and Nasrudin sent him a message that bluntly said: “Your cat is dead.”
The cousin, very upset, sent a message back that said, “Where I live, we give people bad news more tactfully. Instead of just telling me flat out that my cat was dead, you should have let me know me little by little. You should have started off by saying, first told me, ‘Your cat is acting strange,’ then later said, ‘your cat is jumping all over the place,’ then still later told me, ‘Your cat is missing,’ and then finally broken the news and said, ‘Your cat is dead.’
A month later, Nasrudin’s cousin received a new letter from Nasrudin, which said: “Your mother is acting strange.”