Scan barcode
A review by blueberry31
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
5.0
This is a great book on many levels, and it delivers on its promise in the title: it gives you a brief history of humankind.
I've heard from many people that the beginning is great but then it becomes less "grounded in data/science" and too much of the author's opinion. I went into this book fearing this, but surprisingly this didn't strike me at all. Perhaps as the book gets into more recent human history we are faced with questioning our entire system of values and beliefs... and that can be hard to do. So the easy response is to say "that's just the author's opinion/extrapolations". Even if it were, I didn't find his speculations crazy: there is nothing natural anymore about what makes up our modern society and cultures, it's all myth, and the agricultural revolution may not have been a good move for humankind. I don't see why some people seem to find these claims so provocative. Strangely, I find this view of the world and humankind to be extremely liberating. Besides, I think it's pretty evident that religion and capitalism are pure products of human collective imagination. I actually really appreciate that the author doesn't spend time debating nonsensical things like gods and mystical creators - he takes it as a given that they are 100% human creation.
I wouldn't say that anything was breathrough for me in this book, but I did still learn a lot: the author put words and concepts on things that I had a sense of, or "felt" before. I wasn't bored once and found the topic fascinating. I highly recommend this book and am actually considering re-reading it.
I've heard from many people that the beginning is great but then it becomes less "grounded in data/science" and too much of the author's opinion. I went into this book fearing this, but surprisingly this didn't strike me at all. Perhaps as the book gets into more recent human history we are faced with questioning our entire system of values and beliefs... and that can be hard to do. So the easy response is to say "that's just the author's opinion/extrapolations". Even if it were, I didn't find his speculations crazy: there is nothing natural anymore about what makes up our modern society and cultures, it's all myth, and the agricultural revolution may not have been a good move for humankind. I don't see why some people seem to find these claims so provocative. Strangely, I find this view of the world and humankind to be extremely liberating. Besides, I think it's pretty evident that religion and capitalism are pure products of human collective imagination. I actually really appreciate that the author doesn't spend time debating nonsensical things like gods and mystical creators - he takes it as a given that they are 100% human creation.
I wouldn't say that anything was breathrough for me in this book, but I did still learn a lot: the author put words and concepts on things that I had a sense of, or "felt" before. I wasn't bored once and found the topic fascinating. I highly recommend this book and am actually considering re-reading it.