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A review by starryeyedenigma
Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
4.0
The last non fiction read for the year I think. I picked up this book as part of a buddy read choice suggested by my friend. I'm happy that I read such a hopeful and positive book as one of the last books to finish my year with. However, the cynic in me found it really hard to agree with the fact that human beings are actually good at heart, well meaning species.
The author, Rutger Bregman, talks about our years of conditioning - about veneer theory and the nocebo effect. How we are conditioned to believe the worst in others and ourselves. It all makes sense when you read it, but when I look at my own life and the world around me, I think, well if we are so susceptible to believing the worst in others, then maybe we're not that great after all..hehe
I liked how he has done a lot of research and debunks some of the most famous concepts and psychological experiments carried out that show humans in negative light - the book Lord of the Flies, vs the real life Lord of the Flies example, the Stanford Prison experiment carried out by Zimbardo and the actual behind the scene facts of how it was tampered, the Stanley Milford shock machine experiment and again how the subjects were brainwashed, what really happened on Easter Island that drove an entire island to extinction.
I do hope people read the book just to know the truth behind these experiments and concepts and how as a race we have been brainwashed by the few corrupt people in power.
So yes, we might be a good hearted lot, but until we find a way to be realistic and stop getting brainwashed or carried away by the nocebo effect, we're not better off than what these books and scientists tell us about us. :)
The author, Rutger Bregman, talks about our years of conditioning - about veneer theory and the nocebo effect. How we are conditioned to believe the worst in others and ourselves. It all makes sense when you read it, but when I look at my own life and the world around me, I think, well if we are so susceptible to believing the worst in others, then maybe we're not that great after all..hehe
I liked how he has done a lot of research and debunks some of the most famous concepts and psychological experiments carried out that show humans in negative light - the book Lord of the Flies, vs the real life Lord of the Flies example, the Stanford Prison experiment carried out by Zimbardo and the actual behind the scene facts of how it was tampered, the Stanley Milford shock machine experiment and again how the subjects were brainwashed, what really happened on Easter Island that drove an entire island to extinction.
I do hope people read the book just to know the truth behind these experiments and concepts and how as a race we have been brainwashed by the few corrupt people in power.
So yes, we might be a good hearted lot, but until we find a way to be realistic and stop getting brainwashed or carried away by the nocebo effect, we're not better off than what these books and scientists tell us about us. :)