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jol69's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed it. A slightly more light weight look at human history
juliusiv's review against another edition
4.0
Very good summary of us. Harrari does a good job trying to present different sides of controversial subjects (think the meaning of life) but inevitably his views come through anyway.
mchester24's review against another edition
5.0
Harari is able to make a topic as wide as the 'history of humankind' into a gripping page-turner, weaving together so many different topics that make you step back and really think about society, culture, humankind, religion, politics, and pretty much everything else.
Sapiens discusses the inevitably of 'history' following the progression of physics to chemistry to biology, and it feels seamless as you go from the evolution of homo sapiens from their various homo ancestors to the great immigrations, eventual informational revolution, agricultural revolution, industrial revolution, our current state of globalization, and teasing about the future of human history in the face of gene editing, the Gilgamesh Project, and the singularity.
The topics I found really thought provoking in this book were how many of the building blocks of modern and ancient cultures and ways of life are purely collective falsehoods that only work because large groups of humans agree on them and trust them-- everything from nations, economies, religions, capitalism, laws, corporations, justice, humanism, basic human rights, etc. None of these are tangibly real, but humans evolved in a way to collectively believe in them which makes them 'real' in our minds.
A few other rapid-fire thoughts I had jotted down while reading:
- loved reading about how multiple 'homo' species existed at once, it wasn't that sapiens evolved from the one remaining. Sapiens happened to be best positioned to take over as the strongest species through the cognitive and agricultural revolutions (which gives a fascinating look into what makes us tick, and opens up the thought experiments of how that affects modern humans and why we do what we do)
- I enjoy that he's upfront about where we don't know, suggesting when scientists and anthropologists put conjectured conclusions on things that are impossible for us to know (ancient people's mental states, beliefs, intentions, etc.), it ends up more as a rorshac test on the author than on the actual ancient people
- once sapiens existed they had all the full mental capacities that we do today-- you could take one to today's time and teach him from birth like anyone else-- very interesting. One of these ancient sapiens may well have been a Beethoven or Einstein back then.
- The biggest change to ecosystems happened in these prehistoric times, we don't think about it like that and assume all natural spaces are only ruined by modern humans-- but the ancient humans who discovered fire, collective hunting techniques, and agriculture did far more to change the ecosystem landscapes than modern humans have.
I quickly see why this came so highly recommended-- landing on the to-read lists of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and others. You can add me to that list.
Sapiens discusses the inevitably of 'history' following the progression of physics to chemistry to biology, and it feels seamless as you go from the evolution of homo sapiens from their various homo ancestors to the great immigrations, eventual informational revolution, agricultural revolution, industrial revolution, our current state of globalization, and teasing about the future of human history in the face of gene editing, the Gilgamesh Project, and the singularity.
The topics I found really thought provoking in this book were how many of the building blocks of modern and ancient cultures and ways of life are purely collective falsehoods that only work because large groups of humans agree on them and trust them-- everything from nations, economies, religions, capitalism, laws, corporations, justice, humanism, basic human rights, etc. None of these are tangibly real, but humans evolved in a way to collectively believe in them which makes them 'real' in our minds.
A few other rapid-fire thoughts I had jotted down while reading:
- loved reading about how multiple 'homo' species existed at once, it wasn't that sapiens evolved from the one remaining. Sapiens happened to be best positioned to take over as the strongest species through the cognitive and agricultural revolutions (which gives a fascinating look into what makes us tick, and opens up the thought experiments of how that affects modern humans and why we do what we do)
- I enjoy that he's upfront about where we don't know, suggesting when scientists and anthropologists put conjectured conclusions on things that are impossible for us to know (ancient people's mental states, beliefs, intentions, etc.), it ends up more as a rorshac test on the author than on the actual ancient people
- once sapiens existed they had all the full mental capacities that we do today-- you could take one to today's time and teach him from birth like anyone else-- very interesting. One of these ancient sapiens may well have been a Beethoven or Einstein back then.
- The biggest change to ecosystems happened in these prehistoric times, we don't think about it like that and assume all natural spaces are only ruined by modern humans-- but the ancient humans who discovered fire, collective hunting techniques, and agriculture did far more to change the ecosystem landscapes than modern humans have.
I quickly see why this came so highly recommended-- landing on the to-read lists of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and others. You can add me to that list.
brigii's review against another edition
5.0
Yuval Noah Harari became one of my favorite authors. I love his books, they are all interesting and well-written.
basianat's review against another edition
5.0
The most thought-provoking book I've read recently. I didn't enjoy all the chapters to the same extent but, in general, the questions asked and the topics discussed were fascinating. A book I want to come back to.