The essay Humility is written by a renowned essayist of Jerusalem, Yuval Yuval Noah Harari. In this essay, he serves as an example of humility by exposing humankind’s myths of superiority and mastery. He believes that morality, creativity, and the arts are traits that all people possess and are ingrained in their DNA.
In this article, we’ve listed all the best question answers as well as the summary of the Humility Exercise as part of the class 12 English curriculum. Here is the table of contents:
- Humility Exercise: Best Question And Answers For Class 12 English.
- Humility Exercise: Reference to the Context For Class 12 English
- Humility Exercise: Reference Beyond The Text For Class 12 English.
- Humility: Summary For Class 12 English
Humility Exercise: Best Question And Answers For Class 12 English
Listed below are all the best questions and answers for the Humility exercise for Class 12 English.
a. Describe the claim of the Chinese nationalists about human history.
According to Chinese nationalists, the Xia, Shang, and Yellow Emperor dynasties were the first to exist. They consider every accomplishment made by other rulers, such as Westerners, Muslims, or Indians, to be a little imitation of Chinese accomplishment.
b. What do pious Muslims believe about human history?
They claim that all the histories before the Prophet Muhammad were irrelevant. The entire history after the revelation of the Quran revolves around the Muslim communities.
c. What did the Aztecs firmly believe about the universe?
There were many things that the Aztecs thought about the universe. If they didn’t make sacrifices every year, the sun would not rise, and the whole universe would break apart.
d. What, according to the essay, are the universal human abilities?
According to the essay “Humility”, the universal human abilities are morality, art, spirituality, and creativity.
e. How are the basic yoga postures derived from the shape of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet?
Numerous yoga poses closely resemble the patterns of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. As an illustration, the yoga positions Trikonasanna and Tuladandasana resemble the Hebrew letters “aleph” and “dalet,” respectively.
Humility Exercise: Reference to the Context For Class 12 English
Listed below are the answers to the ‘Reference to the context’ part of the Humility.
a. How do Hindu nationalists refute the Chinese claim that human history began with the Yellow Emperor and the Xia and Shang dynasties? Who do you agree with, and why?
In this essay “Humility” the text contains a variety of assertions about human history made by people from various countries. Chinese nationalists claim that the Yellow Emperor, the Xia and Shang dynasties, which were afterward imitated by the West, Muslims, Indians, and many others, are the ones who gave rise to human history. Hindu nationalists, however, dispute these Chinese boasts or assertions and claim that even the invention of airplanes and nuclear bombs occurred in the Indian subcontinent many years before the time of Confucius or Plato, not to mention Einstein and the Wright brothers.
They offer instances from Hindu mythology as well as the inventions of Maharishi Bhardwaj, who built airplanes and rockets, and Vishwamitra, who not only created but also employed missiles. Furthermore, they regard Acharya Kanad as the father of atomic theory.
They refute the claims of Chinese human history stating that even nuclear weapons were used during the Mahabharata time so that is how these later developed civilizations gave birth to this.
I agree with the claims of Hindu nationalists because the Hindu holy books have many instances of the origin of human history and nuclear weapons. Even older than the Chinese claims of human history, the Ramayan and Mahabharat provide a very clear message regarding this. The world’s oldest religion is Hinduism.
b. The author has dealt with a controversial debate on human history. Why do you think history has been a major contested issue in the present world?
In this essay, “Humility,” author has dealt with a contentious issue surrounding human history. He focuses on the claims and ideologies of individuals from various cultures and civilizations regarding their history and significant discoveries.
People from many communities throughout the world take pride in their culture and think that it is the root of human history. These people frequently assume that they are at the center of the universe due to their arrogant faith. He discusses how people’s beliefs about their culture and human history are formed, taking views from a variety of individuals and religions, including Greek thinkers Homer, Sophocles, Plato, and many others.
Because individuals are so preoccupied with their faiths, customs, traditions, rituals, etc., I believe that history has become a hotly debated topic in today’s society. They have a lot of egos. Most individuals believe they are the center of the universe and that their culture is superior to all others because of this egotism (self-centredness). They believe that their history is the oldest and that their culture is the source of all history. Due to egotism, history has become a hotly debated topic in the modern world. The goal of the author is to dispel humanity’s sense of superiority and mastery.
Humility Exercise: Reference Beyond The Text For Class 12 English
Listed below are the answers to the ‘Reference beyond the text’ part of the Humility Exercise.
a. Write a short essay on The Conflicting History of Human Civilization.
➜ The Conflicting History of Human Civilization: An Essay
The history of human civilization is filled with unresolved issues and opposing points of view. Human civilization continued to progress although many issues remained unanswered for most of the period. The egotism of people from many cultures has played a very important part in forming this idea throughout the history of human civilization. The brutality of their arrogant attitude caused a great deal of suffering for people throughout the world.
Violence is rising quickly because individuals are following the wrong paths and making false claims in the present. People are still making false claims in the present, which is why violence is rising quickly. People frequently claim or argue that their civilization is the earliest and most significant in the history of human civilization. Never in their history have people desired to have their culture ruled.
People from many communities throughout the world take pride in their culture and believe that it is the root of human history. Such people frequently assume that they are at the center of the universe due to their arrogant faith.
They believe they are masters and superior to others. Their nature is identical to ours. In addition, we want to see ourselves as the center of the universe. People from Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Maya civilization, India, China, Rome, Greece, and Persia all have the same level of ego. Such is the case with either Abrahamic or Indian religions.
Greek people still consider that history began with Homer (ancient Greek writer and epic poet), Sophocles, and Plato (great philosopher). For them, the important ideas and inventions were born in places of Greek as Athens, Sparta, Alexandria and Constantinople.
Chinese people also have ideas about the world’s history. The Yellow Emperor, the Xia and Shang dynasties, which were later imitated by people from the West, Islam, India, and many other cultures, are regarded by Chinese nationalists to be the true originators of human history. Later, however, Hindu nationalists dispute these Chinese boasts or statements, claiming that even the invention of airplanes and nuclear weapons was made by ancient Indian sages before Confucius or Plato, not to mention Einstein and the Wright brothers.
They stand in for Hindu mythological figures such as Maharishi Bharadwaja, who created the airplane and rocket, and Vishwamitra, who not only created but also used missiles.
Similarly, religious Muslims consider all history before the Prophet Muhammad to be largely irrelevant. They consider all history after the revelation of the Quran to revolve around the Muslim ummah. But Turkish, Iranian, and Egyptian nationalists argue that their nation was the source of all that was good about humanity and that they are the real preservers of the purity of Islam, even after the revelation of the Quran.
British, French, German, American, Russian, Japanese and countless other groups take pride in their distinctive achievements in raising the human race from barbaric and immoral ignorance. The Aztecs (nomadic tribes in northern Mexico) claim to have controlled the law of physics and sacrificed human lives to save the universe.
Each group views itself to be the center of the world, as well as the inventor of the most significant ideologies and accomplishments. However, no organization is genuinely unique; some form of their philosophy and beliefs existed prior to them. The faiths that survived were the most violent since they managed to convert the greatest amount of people to their beliefs.
In truth, all of these claims are untrue. Such claims are the result of egotism and bigotry. Instead, the early humans colonized the world and cultivated plants and animals through these religions or civilizations. To attribute to them a more recent location and period is nothing more than crass egotism. Morality, art, spirituality, and creativity are all universal human traits that are encoded in our DNA.
We dislike criticizing our own people, culture, religion, or habits. Instead, we praise them. We are lacking in modesty. This is the primary source of conflict between human civilizations.
b. The author claims, “Since it is more polite to criticize one’s own people than to criticize foreigners.” Do you agree to his claim? Give your reasons.
In his essay “Humility,” Harari makes the claim that it is more polite to criticize one’s own people than foreigners. I agree with his comments because it might be tense to criticize strangers. People are very focused on their own cultures and histories. They dislike hearing criticism of their own religion or community from people of other faiths or groups. What is spoken or written about our culture, religion, and civilization is accepted without inquiry. What idiots think that the study of sacred texts and human sacrifice is necessary for the cosmos to exist.
No one knows how long this universe has been, and it is just egotism to claim that human sacrifice and the reading of religious text save the cosmos from being demolished.
If ancient sages had invented missiles and rockets, humans may have landed on the moon thousands of years ago. The conflict between two groups of people will result if we reject such things and we are foreigners. We must first recognize the problems with our culture if we are to change ourselves.
Humility: Summary For Class 12 English
Here is the summary of the Humility Exercise for class 12 English.
The author of the essay Humility is a well-known writer from Jerusalem named Yuval Noah Harari. He demonstrates Humility in this essay by dispelling humankind’s myths of superiority and mastery. He claims that human abilities like morality, the arts, spirituality, and creativity are universal and are encoded in our DNA. By debunking humanity’s illusions of superiority and mastery, the author exemplifies the virtue of Humility in this article, which may be defined as “a recognition of the true limits of our techno-social knowledge and abilities.”
According to Harari, most civilizations lack the quality of humility. The majority of people believe that their culture is the foundation for human history and that they are the center of the universe.
Greeks believe that Homer, Sophocles, and Plato are the originators of history and that Athens, Sparta, Alexandria, and Constantinople are the birthplaces of significant concepts and inventions. Some Indians believe that the Indian subcontinent’s ancient sages devised airplanes and nuclear bombs long before Confucius, Plato, Einstein, and the Wright brothers, to mention just a few.
The Jews believe that monotheism should be attributed to them and that they are a major group in the world, ranking among the top three faiths. However, there are only 15 million Jews, and there is no reason to suppose that they are more important than the Hindu faith, which has many more followers. Each group regards itself as the center of the universe, as well as the inventor of the most significant ideals and achievements.
However, no group is truly unique; some variation of their philosophy and beliefs existed prior to them. The faiths that survived were the most aggressive, converting the greatest number of people to their beliefs. For example, the Jewish-claimed Biblical saying “love thy neighbor as oneself” had previously appeared in China.
Similarly, monotheism originated in Egypt and was not originally Jewish. Monotheism has resulted in global catastrophe, and no one should be proud of having created it. Christianity prohibited all faiths save the Jewish religion a few decades after its formation, but many Jews were still persecuted, whereas Islam currently considers all history prior to Mohammed to be irrelevant.
According to Chinese nationalists, many remarkable concepts originated in their culture. The Jews believe that they are God’s chosen people and that gentiles do not rank as highly as them. While some sages have advocated for religious tolerance, historically, people who have contrary ideas have been persecuted. Ironically, most religions advise against this kind of self-centeredness.
About Humility essay writer, Yuval Noah Harari
Prof. Harari is a historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Sapiens: A Graphic History. He is a Co-founder of Sapienship, a multidisciplinary organization advocating for global responsibility whose mission is to clarify the public conversation, support the quest for solutions and focus attention on the most important challenges facing the world today. He is now a lecturer in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Harari exemplifies the virtue of humility in that he debunks humanity’s illusions of superiority and mastery. He claims morality, art, spirituality, and creativity are universal human abilities embedded in our DNA.
Humility Meaning = State of being Humble