Hobbes gets a prize!

I simply adore Calvin and Hobbes- the long-running comic strip depicting shenanigans of Calvin, a mischievous 6 year old and his friend Hobbes, a tiger with human-like qualities. Though everyone else sees Hobbes as an inanimate stuffed toy, Calvin sees him as his true friend- someone he could confide in and seek advice from.

I was always fascinated by the fact that the creator of the comic strip- Bill Watterson- named Calvin and Hobbes after John Calvin (16th century theologian) and Thomas Hobbes (17th century philosopher) respectively. Now, there are two fascinating things about Thomas Hobbes. First, he held a dim pessimistic view of human nature (I guess that’s why Hobbes the tiger was the perfect spoil for Calvin, the human brat). Thomas Hobbes thought people are shortsighted, nasty, not bothered about others and self-centred (his 17th century wisdom seems apt for this century too!). Second, people and whoever is governing these people need some clearly established social rules (he called it social contract) to prevent war and anarchy. This social contract goes beyond the laws to punish crime, to ensure people live in harmony and peace. To give an example, using your mobile phone in flight is illegal and punishable, but social contract would stipulate that you shouldn’t listen to loud music on your mobile phone speaker when you are in public. This would be a basic courtesy one extends to fellow human beings and it is not something you can punish people on.

Cut to today’s time. Last week, the 2024 Nobel prize for economics was awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson for demonstrating the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity. They said societies or countries prosper only when they have laws or social institutions. To me, this resonates with Thomas Hobbes’ philosophy and also with our tiger friend Hobbes’ world view about humanity.

In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks- Bill Watterson

Consider this- institutions like schools, colleges, police, hospitals, election authority have contributed to prosperity of countries in the last decade. What about the future? With technologies such as GenAI and their impact on our attention spans, mental health challenges etc, we may need a new set of institutions, some examples being- institute of research into sustainable and responsible technology use, ministry of mental health, regulatory authority for GenAI generated content, soup kitchens for the soul and so on.

Something to think about….