Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

High level, thought-provoking ideas, lucid exposition, engaging language, and interesting examples. I would recommend this book to ANYONE.In addition to reading, I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Derek Perkins - also highly recommended.The book focuses on "big" history, i.e., macroscopic historical patterns and principles, rather than individual or microscopic historical events and processes. Examples include the three major unification forces of human cultures (money, empires and religions) and the interactions between science, imperialism and capitalism that buttress Western empires' dominion since 1750. Each chapter is organized around these themes, rather than around individual historical regions, eras or institutions (eg, empires and religions) which seems to be the approach of most traditional history textbooks or even university curricula (as judged from for example the course offerings in the History Department of my university: https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/FA15/subject/HIST).[This paragraph contains some personally thoughts only marginally relevant to the book under review; feel free to skip it] Personally, I am utterly enthusiastic about the author’s approach while enormously frustrated about the traditional approach: the traditional approach is like stamp collecting, analogous to providing a long list of mechanical devices without teaching Newton's laws in the case of mechanics, or displaying a wonderful array of organismal diversity without mentioning the unifying principle of evolution in the case of biology, turns people into "scholars" rather than "thinkers" and defeats the overall purpose of our intellectual endeavors. IF there is some element of truth to my impression of history research and education as traditionally practiced having fallen to a lamentable state of stamp collecting, why so? As an outsider of the field I don’t know, and I am speculating that the major reason is we simply don’t know the principles with a level of certainty like that in mechanics or biology, and the minor reason is there is a culture of stamp collecting. In any case, I admire and support the author’s effort which helps to establish the “big history” approach.Once in a while, the author jumped out of any historical context altogether and provided some sweeping accounts on some central questions of history whose relevance holds for history as a whole. Examples include justice in history (Chapter 8), the arrow of history (Chapter 9) and the secret of cultural success (Chapter 13). My personal favorite on this is the chapter on happiness (Chapter 19), which examines the following question: are we getting happier as history rolls along and our power accumulates? By the end of an informative and thought-provoking discussion, the author claimed that the subject has traditionally been shunned by historians despite its central importance and he was trying to fill the gap; I personally believe the claim and think it attests to the author’s courage and intellectual prowess.Staying at the “big history” level, the book contains many thought-provoking ideas. Examples include the point of studying history is not to make predictions but to understand the vast possibilities of our future (in Chapter 13), and we Homo sapiens about to turn into superhumans (in Chapter 20). My personal favorite on this is Agricultural Revolution as history’s biggest fraud (Chapter 5) and the nature of human happiness and how to achieve it (Chapter 19). Connected, the two discussions tell me that humans’ choices and actions may sometimes be fundamentally antithetical and counterproductive to their long-term happiness, which holds profound philosophical and ethical implications to me.The exposition of the book is lucid and the flow natural. To supplement and concretize the discussions on macroscopic principles, the author provided many detailed (microscopic) examples, and here he exhibited great skills in zooming in and out between the two levels and choosing most telling microscopic examples. Examples fall into several categories. In demonstrating that social orders are of an imagined nature, he carefully chose the CASES of the Code of Hammurabi and the Declaration of Independence, and the result is an informative and intriguing comparison (Chapter 6). In showing that in fact the conquered are usually part of the imperial legacies despite their sometimes great reluctance in admitting so, he drew the STORY of siege of Numantia by the Roman Empire (Chapter 11). In explaining the emergence of credit, he concocted a TALE of the fictional characters McDoughnut, Stone and Greedy (Chapter 16). Moreover, the book is scattered with examples down to the more vivid and explicit level, such as a mathematical equation of Relativity to exemplify our mathematical cognition (Chapter 7) and an ingredient list of a hand cream to illustrate the modern industrial sophistication (Chapter 17).Occasionally for some difficult topics in the book it seems a clearer exposition would make it easier for me to understand the author’s argument (eg, on how language enabled us to enjoy competitive advantage over other Homo species and ultimately drive them to extinction (Chapter 2), and the sequence of events that got us trapped in agriculture (Chapter 5)), but having not thoroughly gone through those difficult parts a few times, I understand that it might actually be my understanding deficiency. Moreover, I am aware of some complaints over the potential handwaviness of some of the author’s arguments as exemplified by his overuse of the phrase “exceptions that prove the rule” (eg, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/11/sapiens-brief-history-humankind-yuval-noah-harari-review). In this my thought is the following: I see an AUTHOR’s primary duty as to provoke readers’ own thinking rather than to produce bulletproof arguments (this secondary duty of an author would be the primary duty of a SCIENTIST); in other words, if the author is writing an academic paper, he might need to tighten up his arguments, and since he is now writing a general history book, I think he has succeeded in his primary duty superbly.Lastly, I think it is hard to read through the book without noticing its literary appeal. This book is apparently an English translation that the author did himself from the original Hebrew version. The beautiful and idiomatic language adds much to the exhilarating reading experience.The book affects me nontrivially at a personal level. Aside from the philosophical and ethical implications from history on the relationship between our decisions and long-term happiness as mentioned above, the broad spectrum of social norms described in the book broadens my ethical outlook and makes me less dogmatic about whatever ideas I used to hold as absolute principles and cherish unwaveringly (a positive change I think), echoing the point of studying history which in the author’s opinion is to understand the myriad of possibilities (also mentioned above). I feel sincerely grateful to the author and the book in this. It is in part my wish of extending this positive impact of reading this book and understanding history in general to other people that prompted me to write this review.I can think of some minor improvements for the book. Aside from the potential refinements on the exposition and argument mentioned above, I think the book can be supplemented with more data and plots of them, to inject a more quantitative sense to the matters under study. Lastly, I think the Table of Contents should also include sections of each chapter, which I think would help us grasp the overall structure of the discourse and I provide below for the convenience of other readers. For example, with a listing of the sections of Chapter 12 on religion, one can easily see that the discussions go from the transition from animism to god-based religions, polytheism, monotheism, dualism, Buddhism and Humanism.Table of SectionsI. The Cognitive Revolution1. An animal of no significancea. Skeletons in the closestb. The cost of thinkingc. A race of cooksd. Our brothers’ keepers2. The Tree of Knowledgea. The legend of Peugeotb. Bypassing the genomec. History and Biology3. A day in the life of Adam and Evea. The original affluent societyb. Talking ghostsc. Peace or war?d. The curtain of silence4. The Flooda. Guilty as chargedb. The end of slothc. Noah’s ArkII. The Agricultural Revolution5. History’s biggest frauda. The luxury trapb. Divine interventionc. Victims of the revolution6. Building pyramidsa. The coming of the futureb. An imagined orderc. True believersd. The prison walls7. Memory overloada. Signed, Kushimb. The wonders of bureaucracyc. The language of numbers8. There is no justice in historya. The vicious cycleb. Purity in Americac. He and shed. Sex and gendere. What’s so good about men?f. Muscle powerg. The scum of Societyh. Patriarchal genesIII. The unification of humankind9. The arrow of historya. The spy satelliteb. The global vision10. The scent of moneya. How much is it?b. Shells and cigarettesc. How does money work?d. The Gospel of golde. The price of money11. Imperial Visionsa. What is an empire?b. Evil empiresc. It’s for your own goodd. When they become use. Good guys and bad buys in historyf. The new global empire12. The law of religiona. Silencing the lambb. The benefits of idolatryc. God is oned. The battle of good and evile. The law of naturef. The worship of mang. Humanist religions – religions that worship humanity13. The secret of successa. The hindsight fallacyb. The blind clioIV. The Scientific Revolution14. The discovery of ignorancea. Ignoramusb. The scientific dogmac. Knowledge is powerd. The ideal of progresse. The Gilgamesh Projectf. The sugar daddy of science15. The marriage of science and empirea. Why Europe?b. The mentality of conquestc. Empty mapsd. Invasion from outer spacee. Rare spiders and forgotten scripts16. The Capitalist creeda. A growing pieb. Columbus searches for an investorc. In the name of capitald. The cult of the free markete. The Capitalist hell17. The wheels of industrya. The secret in the kitchenb. An ocean of energyc. Life on the conveyor beltd. The age of shopping18. A permanent revolutiona. Modern timeb. The collapse of the family and the communityc. Imagined communityd. Perpetuum mobilee. Peace in our timef. Imperial retirementg. Pax Atomica19. And they lived happily ever aftera. Counting happinessb. Chemical happinessc. The meaning of lifed. Know Thyself20. The end of Homo Sapiensa. Of mice and menb. The return of the Neanderthalsc. Bionic lifed. Another lifee. The singularityf. The Frankenstein prophecy

This is a very good book for those of us who like to review comprehensive knowledge, periodically, plus like to fill in some blanks. This is truly a work of art that should be useful to many who find time to read it.The author lectures at the Hebrew University Jerusalem. This book has been translated into more than 50 languages. It has sold millions of copies.The book starts with the birth of the earth, then gives us the agreed-upon years of important developments: 2.5 million years ago the earliest forms of man developed; 2 million years ago the earliest humans left Africa; 100,000 Homo Sapiens became dominant; 70,000 years ago early man began to develop cultures; 12,000 years ago began the Agricultural Revolution; 500 years ago began the Scientific Revolution.Homo Sapiens conquered the world, primarily, because of increased brain power and the ability to develop language. In the Cognitive Revolution, about 70,000 years ago, man developed gods, myths and religions. Larger and larger community groups were formed. Trade between groups emerged. This involved, per the author, “The instinct to gorge on high-calorie food was hard-wired into our genes.” Incidents of warfare were reduced.As early man became more and more settled, their ability to rule and control led to the extinction of many, many large animals. This occurred in all parts of the world. Per the author, this pattern continues today, with the loss of more and more plants and animals, including those in the seas and oceans. He calls us humans, “the deadliest species in the annals of biology.”Agricultural staples, such as rice, corn, wheat and potatoes, were cultivated inventions in the years of the Agricultural Revolution. But per the author, an enlarged sum of food did not translate into an improved diet. Also, per the author, the Agricultural Revolution was a trap. “There was no going back.” It initiated the pursuit for an easier and easier life.What this signals is one area that I found some problems with in the book. Near the end, the author tries to make the case that things actually might have been “better” many years ago. He talks about the quest for “happiness,” in a way that I found unconvincing. I thought it was a flaw in a very enjoyable book.Also pointed out is that man was able to select those types of animals that could be domesticated for our needs, such as the more-timid sheep, or the strongest, but most gentle oxen. Today, there are approximately one billion sheep, one million pigs and cattle, and 25 billion chicken being raised for the convenience of man. But as another hit on mankind, the author says that our domesticated animals, due to the ways they are now raised, may be “among the most miserable creatures that have ever lived.” As an example, a modern calf on a modern meat farm may spend its entire life – of only about four months – inside a tiny cage. All this for our enjoyment of a soft, juicy steak.The earth’s surface is about 200 million square miles. 3,500 years ago, man occupied less than three percent of the earth’s surface. For the vast majority of time, most humans were peasants. Progress required the emergence of numbers and writing. Cultures developed. Money, empires and universal religions spread. These three, per the author, “laid the foundation for the united world of today.”Per the author, “Trust is the raw material from which all types of money are minted.” Minted coins became the money of choice because of the ease of storage and transportation. But their value was always based on trust.Per the author, “human order is imagined.” Empires, per the author, have been “the most common form of political organization for the last 2,500 years.” He says that they do not work, long-term, mainly because it is not possible to rule over large numbers of conquered people forever. At the same time, empires can be quite stable. In the present time, per the author, “nationalism is fast losing ground.” (Were that to be true. )Religion came during the Agricultural Revolution. All kinds of gods emerged to try to explain what could not be explained. Religions with multiple gods can explain differences between good and evil. Religions with one god have problems doing that. Per the author, Capitalism is the most successful of the modern religions.In a twist on the well-known tenant that the victors write history, the author says that “There is absolutely no proof that human well-being inevitably improves as history rolls along.” He discusses the history of Christianity. He seems to say that the past of history is, more or less, random or unpredictable.The advances in science came with the willingness to admit ignorance. Its emphasis was on observations and experiments, not on praying to a god for an answer. Until the Scientific Revolution, cultures did not believe in progress. For example, hunger and poverty would be seen as an inevitable “part of this imperfect world.” Now, per the author, poverty is more and more considered a technical problem. As are our eventual deaths. But science can be expensive. To move forward, it needs to be in alliance with some religion or culture.It was science that turned the world toward a dominance of the Western culture. In 1775, per the author, Asia had 80% of the world economy. Europe was an “economic dwarf.” But the Europeans were able to dominate the Asian powers by 1900. This was accomplished, primarily by the military-industrial-scientific complex and “technical wizardry.”European imperialism was built on capitalism. The discovery of America by Columbus was a big part of this. It led to the European explore-and-conquer expeditions. For the Europeans, building empires was a scientific project, based on capitalism.The author gives a great description of how banking works under capitalism, citing that, in some ways, it is a giant fraud, that a bank can lend money it really does not have. But, says the author, if it is a fraud, then the entire modern, world-wide economy is a fraud. In fact, it is all based on trust. And it is credit that “enables us to build the present at the expense of the future.”It was credit that allowed Spain to finance Columbus, not the income from taxes. All this was based on the belief that the total amount of wealth in the world is not limited. Progress gives people faith and trust in the future. But for capitalism to work well, there must be reinvestment, not just hoarding of wealth. But, per the author, in our modern world, there also may be a limit to the continuation of “printing money.” And, on the bad side, per the author, “Capitalism has killed millions out of cold indifference, coupled with greed.”The Industrial Revolution resulted in “an explosion in human productivity.” It did not, however, result in any equality of wealth. And at best, per the author, the modern economy is dependent on the masses to “give free rein to their cravings and passions to buy more and more.”Per the author, the modern era has witnessed the collapse of the family. He views the liberation of the individual as coming with a possible cost. He talks about “imagined communities,” as opposed to real ones. And, we become more and more dependent on international trade. True, violence is down, worldwide, in the past 70 years, in most parts of the world. But, says the author, “History has still not decided where we will end up….”This is where, I think, the author begins to veer off course a bit. Near the end of the book, he begins a discussion about whether we are “happier” or not. He actually suggests that the thrill of a wild, successful mammoth hunt would surpass the enjoyment of just about anything in the modern world. Huh? Then he says that “Every new invention puts us farther away from the Garden of Eden.” Huh? He says that modern industrial agriculture may be our “greatest crime.” And that “Perhaps it is also wrong to only consider the happiness of humans.”He suggests that we need to “re-engineer our biochemical system.” He talks about the benefits of Buddhism in distinguishing what is real and what it not.The future, he says, is unknown, and most people don’t want to think about it. He admits putting the brakes on progress is unlikely. He says that progress will continue to be justified as a search to make things “better.” Near the end, he says that “the Sapiens regime on earth has so far produced little that we can be proud of.” Per the author, we have not reduced the overall suffering in the world. And, we are accountable to no one.He ends with, “Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know what they want.”I would have preferred something like, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” But that is not what you get from reading this book, which is full of great information on the history of humankind.