Embark on a captivating journey as we delve into the enigmatic depths of human history with acclaimed physicist and author, Victor Torvich. Victor Torvich is the author of the upcoming book with the title Subsurface History of Humanity.
In his book, Torvich offers a unique perspective that goes beyond traditional narratives. As a physicist by education and an inventor at heart, Torvich’s expertise in complex systems allows him to unravel the intricate tapestry of human existence. With numerous academic papers on the subject and a deep passion for understanding the complex system of humanity, Torvich’s insights promise to challenge and excite readers. Join us as we sat down with Torvich for an exclusive interview, conducted at taalk studio, to discover the thought-provoking ideas and abstract angles that shape our extraordinary human journey.
1Hi Victor, What inspired you to start exploring humanity?
We live in turbulent times. That could be applied to this century, the last century, or any other one. Did you ever wonder if there is any sense in humankind’s history? Is there a certain direction in which humanity is moving? On the surface, it looks like we have just a sequence of visibly chaotic events.
I focused on the question if there is an objective direction of mankind’s development. It should be somewhere. I looked for it in books. I looked for it in scientific articles. I looked on the Internet. … And I found nothing. I do not count suggestions that we are moving toward more progress, or more happiness, or any other subjective things.
2Interesting Experience/Journey you went through authoring this book?
I definitely did not expect how much time I will spend on editing my manuscript. For instance, there is probably not a single sentence in the final version from the first version of the book.
The other thing is about research. Typical advice to authors is to separate the research phase from the writing phase. I was not able to always follow this advice. My book is aimed at the general public, who are 13-14 years or older. At the same time, there are over 200 references in my book. I had to do a lot of research. Sometimes scientific publications, which I found, made me rethink what I was writing. My writing and research phases overlapped quite often.
3According to you what distinguishes conventional history of humanity from subsurface history
If you look at all events in global history – that would be a conventional history. In the global history of mankind, you could count thousands of such important events. It is just way too many of them to make sense of history.
If you want to make sense of history of humanity, you have to choose a much smaller number of events.
Moreover, if you want to get the direction of mankind’s development, you need to be able to apply math to those events during the whole history. You need to have an exact criterion how to do it. Even that is not enough.
You need to have a method on how to deal with the complexity of mankind and its history. One way to make sense of the history of humanity is to look at it from a complex systems viewpoint.
In my book, I found the objective direction in which humanity was moving during the last 44 thousand years.
4Conclusion – Key takeaways for anyone who reads your book
For many thousands of years, nobody in humankind was able to find out the objective direction in which mankind is heading. A first takeaway from my book is that it is possible to find this path.
Furthermore, you will get answers to some other big questions about humanity. Here are those questions.
Is the route in which humankind is moving a linear one or not?
How fast humankind is moving in the found direction?
Why humans rule the Earth?
Which force is driving humanity’s development?
Is that move controllable by humans?
What circumstances can lead us off the current course in the near future? By “near future” I mean tens, or hundreds, or thousands of years.
