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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5 stars
Yet another really powerful book by Yuval Noah Harari. His books have left me with an interesting perspective on human history, very different from what I learned in high school. Even in his previous book, he didn't spend too much time on historical details. His shinning quality as an author is his exceptional writing of metahistory - he is just great at naming the subtle forces which have shaped or continue to shape human thinking. And by explaining that, we can understand why pretty much anything happened the way it did, it just becomes obvious.
I loved his first book, it is definitely one of my favorites, but I was worried about this one because I felt like the topic of this book was a little out of his field of study and wasn't sure if he would be able to pull off an equally successful book with such a disadvantage. I am very happy with how it turned out. It gave me a new pair of lenses in which I can see the world, which is what I hoped it would do for me.
The reason why I rated it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is because there was quite a bit of repetition and redundant explanation. I just feel like he made his point fairly clear the first time and he didn't need to reemphasize some parts because I already understood the connection to the rest of the topics he mentioned. It got quite annoying at some parts because there were sections of the book where he just wasn't saying anything new and because of this, it took me longer to read than it would have if he just condensed it a bit more. Otherwise, the book was awesome and exceeded my expectations.
Yet another really powerful book by Yuval Noah Harari. His books have left me with an interesting perspective on human history, very different from what I learned in high school. Even in his previous book, he didn't spend too much time on historical details. His shinning quality as an author is his exceptional writing of metahistory - he is just great at naming the subtle forces which have shaped or continue to shape human thinking. And by explaining that, we can understand why pretty much anything happened the way it did, it just becomes obvious.
I loved his first book, it is definitely one of my favorites, but I was worried about this one because I felt like the topic of this book was a little out of his field of study and wasn't sure if he would be able to pull off an equally successful book with such a disadvantage. I am very happy with how it turned out. It gave me a new pair of lenses in which I can see the world, which is what I hoped it would do for me.
The reason why I rated it 4.5 stars instead of 5 is because there was quite a bit of repetition and redundant explanation. I just feel like he made his point fairly clear the first time and he didn't need to reemphasize some parts because I already understood the connection to the rest of the topics he mentioned. It got quite annoying at some parts because there were sections of the book where he just wasn't saying anything new and because of this, it took me longer to read than it would have if he just condensed it a bit more. Otherwise, the book was awesome and exceeded my expectations.
Ideas:
- Humanity's goal is bliss, immortality. Due to current and upcoming technology, this does not require a large community or number of people (like in the past), so it's likely to create an elite class that upgrades themselves by biotechnology and computing.
- "Dataism" is a new religion to promote the flow of information. Human experience is not as valuable as information.
Analysis:
- Interesting, especially analysis of prior human civilization and progress.
- Humanity's goal is bliss, immortality. Due to current and upcoming technology, this does not require a large community or number of people (like in the past), so it's likely to create an elite class that upgrades themselves by biotechnology and computing.
- "Dataism" is a new religion to promote the flow of information. Human experience is not as valuable as information.
Analysis:
- Interesting, especially analysis of prior human civilization and progress.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
@erin_paige's review struck a note with me, and I don't think I can say it any better:
..."400 pages of tenuously connected historical tidbits that want to but don’t provide a view to the future.
By summing up actual research and discoveries about human behaviour, political and social systems you can almost convince yourself you are reading new science, new thinking. But no. As a thesis, it’s lacking. It has no underpinning idea, and feels instead he threw things at the ceiling to see what might stick. "
..."400 pages of tenuously connected historical tidbits that want to but don’t provide a view to the future.
By summing up actual research and discoveries about human behaviour, political and social systems you can almost convince yourself you are reading new science, new thinking. But no. As a thesis, it’s lacking. It has no underpinning idea, and feels instead he threw things at the ceiling to see what might stick. "
challenging
informative
relaxing
I’ve listened to Harare’s lectures, to him in debates and read some of his short pieces so I bought this book with high expectations. I’m annoyed at myself for buying this one first and as I was reading friends kept saying “you should read Sapiens first”. But honestly, I think I’m done with Harari now. The intellectual crush was squashed with this book.
It feels like a man, a great thinker, suddenly was told everyone wanted to listen but was given limited time to provide his thoughts. So what follows an good essay is 400 pages of tenuously connected historical tidbits that want to but don’t provide a view to the future.
By summing up actual research and discoveries about human behaviour, political and social systems you can almost convince yourself you are reading new science, new thinking. But no. As a thesis, it’s lacking. It has no underpinning idea, and feels instead he threw things at the ceiling to see what might stick.
It feels like a man, a great thinker, suddenly was told everyone wanted to listen but was given limited time to provide his thoughts. So what follows an good essay is 400 pages of tenuously connected historical tidbits that want to but don’t provide a view to the future.
By summing up actual research and discoveries about human behaviour, political and social systems you can almost convince yourself you are reading new science, new thinking. But no. As a thesis, it’s lacking. It has no underpinning idea, and feels instead he threw things at the ceiling to see what might stick.
informative
medium-paced
A fascinating look at how our world may look in the not-too-distant future. Having read Sapiens earlier this year, the early parts were a little tedious as Harari reviewed his theories that he explored in that book. The later parts were great and posed some very important questions that need to be answered, and soon!
While I thought the book had a lot of interesting things to say, I felt it could have been at least 20% shorter.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Densely informative if not a little overwhelming and slightly pessimistic as far as outlook on the future of humankind - though perhaps more accurate and realistic than I'm ready to admit/accept!