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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Perhaps my expectations were too high of this book. I had tried to read it twice before this attempt, and both times I quit midway the first chapter. This time I managed to finish the book, but it was a real struggle. The central thesis of the book is that the popular narrative on human evolution, the state and agriculture is fundamentally misguided and not based on the results of contemporary anthropological and archeological research. It makes the compelling case that there are alternative ways of looking at the history of humanity, which are fundamentally more imaginative than the teleological narrative of hunter-gatherers moving to agriculture moving to industry etc etc.
The trouble with this book for me lay in the fact that it is unbelievably repetitive and uneven. Some chapters (such as the opening one on the Indigenous critique of European ways of life and the Enlightenment more broadly) were captivating from the start, such that I would not be surprised if I assigned them to students at university. But other chapters simply drown in dry asides and are overloaded with information. I understand that the goal of the two Davids was to underpin their argument with empirical evidence and new insights from research, but they completely lost me at certain points.
Unfortunately, this wealth of information is at times counterbalanced by a lack of critical engagement with the more problematic aspects of contemporary scholarship on human evolution. At several points the book outright contradicts itself when it comes to the naturalization of the nuclear family. For example, at one point I found them arguing that Northwest Pacific communities were made up from what were essentially nuclear family units without an overarching bureaucracy or state, while simultaneously pointing out that in some cases a mere 10% of close family members were biologically related. From my perspective as a queer studies scholar that is unbelievably interesting, because it provides additional material to argue against the naturalization of the nuclear family. However, this is never truly investigated, and the book also never questions the validity of the gender binary - which becomes downright problematic every single time they attempt to write about the role of women in these early communities.
TLDR: uneven book, it is worth a read if you have the time, otherwise I would stick to the first chapter and the two final ones as it summarizes the material of the chapters in between quite well.
The trouble with this book for me lay in the fact that it is unbelievably repetitive and uneven. Some chapters (such as the opening one on the Indigenous critique of European ways of life and the Enlightenment more broadly) were captivating from the start, such that I would not be surprised if I assigned them to students at university. But other chapters simply drown in dry asides and are overloaded with information. I understand that the goal of the two Davids was to underpin their argument with empirical evidence and new insights from research, but they completely lost me at certain points.
Unfortunately, this wealth of information is at times counterbalanced by a lack of critical engagement with the more problematic aspects of contemporary scholarship on human evolution. At several points the book outright contradicts itself when it comes to the naturalization of the nuclear family. For example, at one point I found them arguing that Northwest Pacific communities were made up from what were essentially nuclear family units without an overarching bureaucracy or state, while simultaneously pointing out that in some cases a mere 10% of close family members were biologically related. From my perspective as a queer studies scholar that is unbelievably interesting, because it provides additional material to argue against the naturalization of the nuclear family. However, this is never truly investigated, and the book also never questions the validity of the gender binary - which becomes downright problematic every single time they attempt to write about the role of women in these early communities.
TLDR: uneven book, it is worth a read if you have the time, otherwise I would stick to the first chapter and the two final ones as it summarizes the material of the chapters in between quite well.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
If we are avid readers of history, one thing we must acknowledge is that any book about history is fundamentally a narrative. And narratives, by nature, involve a certain amount of "cherry-picking" to fit the grander story we're trying to tell. With that in mind, I do want to say - I very much enjoyed the story The Dawn of Everything told me. I've always believed human beings are too complex for one singular, overarching theme to describe us. But of all the arguments we make about the essence of human nature, I think this book offers a very reasonable, believable one. The book's characterization of human beings as creative, intelligent (to a certain degree) and self-conscious of their own arrangements is definitely a characterization I can get behind. (And I loved the acknowledgement that we really don't know a lot of things — including how much of life is conscious and how much of it is deterministic).
I learned a lot while reading this book, and I particularly enjoyed the sections about Native American influences on the Enlightment. It also challenged a lot of my perceptions about the linear evolutions of human society and left me feeling intrigued about different possibilities. The following quote from Men in Black really encompasses my views on some of this book's revelations:
Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know totomorrow.
Our "knowing" must rapidly change with every new development in archeology and anthropology and I think this book has made me more amenable to these developments. It helped that the writers occasionally peppered in some humor and wit and called out their peers for their stubbornness in holding onto old beliefs — even in light of newer evidence. Of course, some of the book did go over my head, especially in the later parts, but I'd like to think I retained the broad strokes nonetheless. This was a generally satisfying and enjoyable read. Even if it's sheer in volume, the authors do a good job at structuring everything in an easy-to-digest manner, allowing all the arguments from each chapter to come full circle by the end and build up to their "thesis statement." I'm glad I tackled this! Definitely reignited my passion for non-fiction of this sort.
I learned a lot while reading this book, and I particularly enjoyed the sections about Native American influences on the Enlightment. It also challenged a lot of my perceptions about the linear evolutions of human society and left me feeling intrigued about different possibilities. The following quote from Men in Black really encompasses my views on some of this book's revelations:
Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know totomorrow.
Our "knowing" must rapidly change with every new development in archeology and anthropology and I think this book has made me more amenable to these developments. It helped that the writers occasionally peppered in some humor and wit and called out their peers for their stubbornness in holding onto old beliefs — even in light of newer evidence. Of course, some of the book did go over my head, especially in the later parts, but I'd like to think I retained the broad strokes nonetheless. This was a generally satisfying and enjoyable read. Even if it's sheer in volume, the authors do a good job at structuring everything in an easy-to-digest manner, allowing all the arguments from each chapter to come full circle by the end and build up to their "thesis statement." I'm glad I tackled this! Definitely reignited my passion for non-fiction of this sort.
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
A mind-blowing and paradigm-shifting book. I had thought of myself as a fairly informed person on this subject before I read this, but it turns out I was wrong about a lot of important things. It's not an easy read, but it's definitely worth it, even if it takes you a year to finish or if you never make it all the way to the end.
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced