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A review by beetleb33
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Yuval makes the difficult endeavor in encapsulating all of human history into one book. I found the first couple chapters especially fascinating as he begins with first understanding humans in a larger system and under the pressures of natural selection - much like other living beings. The selective pressures set the scene for Homo sapiens to continue to survive and eventually propogate. I appreciate Yuvals attention to detail and his penchance for understanding human anatomy and chemistry; every so often there are light insights into how we think and why we do things as we do.
As the book continues I become more appreciative of his careful curation of moments in time. It is difficult to determine which events are among the most significant, yet Yuval weaves together sequences of events into a broad understanding of how we have established the current systems in place. Highlights of learning include the agricultural revolution and domestication, currency and a growing global economy, as well as thoughts on self fulfillment, happiness, and satisfaction in the context of current systems. However, I should note that Yuval has a taste for the dramatics, often using biblical allegories to preface the chapters and often speaks of humanity in an exaggerated negatory way.
As the book continues I become more appreciative of his careful curation of moments in time. It is difficult to determine which events are among the most significant, yet Yuval weaves together sequences of events into a broad understanding of how we have established the current systems in place. Highlights of learning include the agricultural revolution and domestication, currency and a growing global economy, as well as thoughts on self fulfillment, happiness, and satisfaction in the context of current systems. However, I should note that Yuval has a taste for the dramatics, often using biblical allegories to preface the chapters and often speaks of humanity in an exaggerated negatory way.