Sapiens: A Brief History of Humanity (Hebrew: קיצור תולדות האנושות) is a book by Professor Yuval Noah Harari , first published in Hebrew in Israel in 2011, and in English in 2014. Harari cites “ Guns, Germs, and Steel ” by Jared Diamond (1997) as one of the book’s greatest inspirations, showing that one can “ask very big questions and answer them scientifically.”
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The book was perceived ambiguously. Most anthropologists were very skeptical of the book. The public reaction to the book was positive.
Content
Summary
The work of Harari bases his report on the history of mankind in the framework of the natural sciences, in particular evolutionary biology: he considers biology as the establishment of the boundaries of human activity and culture as the formation of what happens within these limits. History is an account of cultural change.
Harari explores the history of mankind from the evolution of archaic human species in the Stone Age to the 21st century, focusing on our own human form, Homo sapiens. He divides the Sapiens story into four main parts:
- In the cognitive revolution (from 70,000 BC, when the Sapiens developed their imagination).
- In the agricultural revolution (from 12 000 BC. The development of agriculture).
- In the unification of mankind (the gradual unification of human political organizations into one global empire).
- In the scientific revolution (since 1500 A.D. the emergence of objective science).
Harari’s main argument is that Sapiens began to dominate the world, because this is the only animal that can flexibly cooperate in large numbers. He claims that the prehistoric Sapiens was the main cause of the extinction of other human species, such as Neanderthals , along with numerous other megafaunas . He further argues that Sapiens' ability to collaborate in large numbers stems from his unique ability to believe in things that exist solely in the imagination, such as gods , nations , money, and human rights . Harari claims that all large-scale systems of human cooperation, including religions , political structures , trading networks and legal institutions , owe their appearance to Sapiens' distinctive cognitive ability to invent . Accordingly, Harari considers money as a system of mutual trust and sees political and economic systems more or less identical with religions.
Harari’s main complaint about the Agricultural Revolution is that although it contributed to population growth for Sapiens and co-evolutionary species such as wheat and cow, it made most people (and animals) live worse than when the Sapiens were mostly hunter-gatherers . Violence over other animals is indeed a topic that runs throughout the book.
Speaking of the unification of mankind, Harari argues that over the course of his history, the tendency toward the Sapiens has increasingly been linked to political and economic interdependence. For centuries, most people have lived in empires, and capitalist globalization effectively produces a single, global empire. Harari argues that money, empires and universal religions are the main drivers of this process.
Harari sees the scientific revolution as based on innovation in European thought, as a result of which the elites began to agree and, therefore, try to correct their ignorance. He sees this as one of the factors of early modern European imperialism and the current convergence of human cultures. Harari also emphasizes the lack of research in the history of happiness, believing that today people are not much happier than in past eras. He concludes by considering how modern technology can soon end the look as we know it, as it opens up genetic editing, amorality, and inorganic life : people in the chosen Harari metaphor become gods capable of creating species.
Ratings
Positive
Translated into 45 languages (as of June 2017), the book won the Book Prize of the National Library of China for 2015.
Negative
Looking at the book in The Washington Post , evolutionary anthropologist Avi Tushman pointed out several problems with the book, but nevertheless wrote that "Harari's book is important for reading for serious, self-analyzing sapiens."
In a review of The Guardian, the philosopher Galen Strosson , among other issues, concluded that “most of Sapiens is extremely interesting, and this is often well expressed. However, as you read, the attractive features of the book overlap with carelessness, exaggeration and sensationalism. ”
Research journalist Charles Mann of The Wall Street Journal concluded that “there are noisy dormitory sessions about the author’s stimulating but often unfounded allegations.”
Another criticism was made by Jared Diamond and Yuval Noah Harari on the agricultural revolution.