Genus Homo
Just as Stage Four is a natural evolution of the desire to receive, its corporeal parallel, human beings, appeared through a natural process of evolution following the same principles explained in the previous chapters. The genus Homo (humanoid ape) first appeared approximately 2.5 million years ago, and evolved as all other species do, by natural selection. As with animals, hominids that were healthier and stronger survived, and those that were less so perished.
Yet, hominids, and primarily the latest evolution of the species, Homo sapiens, invested far more energy and time on social relations than any other species. Albeit many species, such as dolphins, chimpanzees, and wolves, cultivate intricate social relations, social structures in human societies are dynamic and evolutionary by nature.
In that regard, Baal HaSulam wrote in the “Introduction to the Book of Zohar” that unlike animals, humans have the ability to sympathize with another’s pains and joys, and animals do not [78]. In declaring this, Baal HaSulam was not referring to empathy as is often exhibited by animals between mother and offspring, and even among unrelated specimens of a species. Instead, here he speaks of an entirely new mechanism of the desire to receive: evolution through envy.
In item 38 of the introduction just mentioned, Ashlag explains the difference between desires in humans and in animals, and how envy increases our desires: “The will to receive in the animate, which lacks the sensation of others, can only generate needs and desires to the extent that they are imprinted in that creature alone.” [79]
In other words, if an animal knows that eating is good, it may want to help another animal obtain food, as well. “But man,” continues Ashlag, “who can feel others, becomes needy of everything that others have, as well, and is thus filled with envy to acquire everything that others have.” [80]
Hence, even when we have had our fill of food, shelter, and all other essentials, our envy constantly compels us to want more: a greater house, stronger/healthier/more beautiful children (and preferably all the above), a bigger lot of land… the list is as long as the list of human desires. In that regard, Ashlag quotes the 1,500-year-old text of the Midrash, “One who has one hundred, wishes for two hundred, so the needs forever multiply until one wishes to devour all that there is in the entire world.” [81]
Indeed, the appearance of Homo sapiens marked what appears to be a shift in the direction of evolution. Homo sapiens, it seems, were focusing not on developing a stronger, more adapt and agile physique, but on developing their intellect, and even more surprising, self-expression. Today, as Twenge and Campbell have shown in the above-mentioned The Narcissism Epidemic, this has become an epidemic of self entitlement. Thus, we see how Homo sapiens is the earthly representation of Stage Four in the desire to receive—the desire to become omnipotent and omniscient.