Self-proclaimed (and accurately) as a brief history of mankind, this book seeks to explain how homo sapiens came to dominate the world, before even more briefly speculating on how sustainable that dominance may be.
Interestingly, it identifies four key developments that marked seismic shifts in history. First, and most important, was a ‘cognitive’ revolution in which Sapiens came to recognise, value, and label in language intangibles (things we cannot touch or see - the products of imagination) that we now take for granted. Second came the agricultural revolution, whereby for the first time Sapiens gathered in greater numbers than could be individually known to each other, requiring social organisation and cooperation (voluntary or coerced). The third development was the unification of the world when its disparate parts became connected, enabling global trade in goods and ideas, not to mention conquest and exploitation. Fourth came the scientific revolution whereby the pursuit of knowledge and the admission of ignorance became something valuable, something to enhance rather than threaten those in power.
As we are taken through these stages, insights come in a steady stream, blindingly obvious – except you had never looked at it like that. Too numerous to mention individually but each a building block in Harari’s analysis.
Despite the enormous concepts in play – religion, economics, money, war, empire, ideologies – the prose is clear, concise, and very readable. Though sure in his own mind, Harari persuades rather than harangues. He admits the possibility of doubt but provides the evidence to put it in its place of low probability.
A most satisfying
read with so much food for thought that you can dine on it for weeks after and
digest its truths slowly.
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