Sapiens
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?
Stats for nerds
201recommend
440mentions
376people
2015–2026years
52% recommend41% neutral7% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Not a book or course per say, but based on a book:
The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to "The Office" by Venkat [0]
Other contenders:
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari [1]
Haseeb qureshi's articles on Negotiating [2]
These along with er... mind-altering substances, helped me see that reality as we live it (careers, status, institutions, ect) is like software: built/programmed by humans and can be changed by shifting your perspective.
[0] https://ribbonfarm.com/series/the-gervais-principle/
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGhTQ4iruLc&list=PLfc2WtGuVP...
[2] https://haseebq.com/my-ten-rules-for-negotiating-a-job-offer...
- I enjoyed Sapiens precisely because it exemplifies one of its themes: namely, that telling stories is advantageous (to the teller, the hearer, society, or some combination) because stories are easy to remember and can be used as mental tools to navigate the world and to affect the behavior of others — regardless of whether the stories reflect reality in a wholly accurate way. Thus the book, in its own inaccuracies, is a joke on the reader (and, more broadly, on a swathe of all readers and academics) because it advantages Harari himself to the general economic and temporal detriment of his audience.
I keep Harari's book on my shelf to remember the power of control through narrative, and I get a good laugh whenever I see it there.
- Do you feel current western capitalistic culture is perfect and the peak of what humanity can accomplish?
There should be more, not less, experiments in alternative ways of life. I wish there was a lot more examples because we desperately need to change some things and some people need to be first.
As a non-American I don't know much about amish and there could be atrocities I am unaware of, but from what little I know I have always respected Amish for daring to be different, and for living sustainable and not contributing to climate change.
If you trade their belief in God with increased CO2 emissions -- why would that be a rational change to their culture?
So who are really misdirected humans? I would say those who sacrifice the planet on the altar of numbers stored in computer systems in banks...
Reading tip for you is "Sapiens" of Harari. Don't worry, he's an atheist, but he may contribute a more nuanced view on the role of religion in human culture (and he names capitalism as a religion too).
- I won't answer your questions, but I think you'll find a lot of answers in Sapiens and Nexus, both books from Yuval Noah Harari. They explain a lot about the fantastic questions that you are posing.
- I am worried.
I do agree that the bigger picture of learning non-fiction is richer. We now have other ways to learn non-fiction: Wikipedia, Veritasium, Gemini, etc.
But only books can provide you something we may call a "coherent worldview". They are the ones that stitch together different pictures into a coherent whole.
I can think of a lot of books that gave me that: E.Gombrich's "Story of Art", Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death", ... honestly, even Julia Childs' "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" or Yuval Harari's "Sapiens" (his other books are crap, b.t.w.).
True, we still have universities' textbooks. But they're very narrow in scope.
The thing about non-fiction books is that nothing else can provide the same combination of depth and scope.
- This is actually one of the key points Yuval Noah Harari made in his landmark book 'Sapiens' (a must-read, probably the book I've recommended more than any other)
