Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
There are good parts, there are bad parts, and there are mind-numbingly annoying parts.
Source: CBC
Hi, it’s Dilan.
I recently finished re-reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. The first time I had a go at the book, I didn’t fully understand the concepts that were presented. Now that I have a fresh perspective, I wanted to share my thoughts. Also, stick around for this week’s “Try This…”, it’s a weird but helpful challenge. In addition, now that I finished Sapiens, I’m reading On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft by Stephen King and Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal by Chris Colfer. Both are good reads so far in case you’re interested in checking them out.
Food for Thought: 4/2/2023
Main Topic
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a nonfiction book by Yuval Noah Harari, initially published in Israel in 2011 and translated into English in 2014. Praised by Bill Gates, Barrack Obama, and more, the book has become an international bestselling phenomenon.
Sapiens follows humans and their progress, specifically detailing how we became the masters of the world. Its chapters are split up into four parts: “The Cognitive Revolution”, “The Agricultural Revolution”, “The Unification of Humankind”, and “The Scientific Revolution”. The book covers a wide range of topics that create a narrative of the evolution of Homo sapiens, such as religion throughout history, whether we have actually become happier as history has progressed, the rise of numbers and statistics, and more.
I’m a big fan of its interesting ideas, crisp writing style, humor incorporation, and organized layout. However, a lot of the book is just the author’s opinions and theories that haven’t actually been backed scientifically. The book is also critiqued because it contradicts a few well-known scientific hypotheses about humankind’s evolution. Now, Sapiens is written by a renowned historian, so I don’t have much to complain about, but it is important to recognize that his opinions are just that- opinions. Does that mean that the book is not a worthwhile read? Not necessarily. A lot of what Harari writes about are solid arguments and include details of history presented in an engaging, eye-opening way. Yet some of his opinions aren’t fleshed out and can appear very shallow at times.
It’s not that I criticize the book because I don’t understand it. It’s that for the reasons I mentioned above, it wasn’t as appealing to me as some other history books I’ve read. Critics say that he misrepresented a lot of things, such as Humanism. Now, I am new to Humanism and his depiction was the first time I got a good look at it, but upon further research, I can see how people think that he completely whiffed it.
The thing about Sapiens, though, is that it’s supposed to be a “brief history of humankind”. 450 pages may not seem brief, but he would have needed pounds of paper to cover every topic in human history to its fullest. In the case of Humanism, he presented the broad topic well. It’s when you get into the nuances and small details that Sapiens becomes lackluster at best. Since Sapiens takes a macro view of history, its ideas and concepts aren’t always fully developed, as there is a lot to cover in one book. Harari can’t always refute all of the counterclaims to his theories or provide more reasoning.
The most interesting takeaway that I got from this book is the idea of “imagined realities” that hold us together. These things don't really exist, yet without them, humans wouldn’t be able to cooperate in such large groups. They are imagined social constructs that aren’t set rules of the universe. We created them. Examples include money, law, human rights, corporations, and empires. Harari argues that one of the core aspects that separates humans from animals (which is a fine line for some of us) is that we alone can talk about things that don’t exist. The US dollar is no longer backed by federal gold- it has no real value, unlike trading, in which you exchange objects of value. Money works because enough people believe in it, and only that.
Here are some other cool subjects that Harari writes about:
Why The Agricultural Revolution was basically a giant trap. He argues that population and growth increased drastically, but living conditions got worse.
How money, imperialism, and religion are huge factors that led to the unification of humankind into a global empire made up of countries, people, and ideas that are interdependent.
How scientific discoveries were caused by empires with the right resources who funded these discoveries in the hopes of gaining more power.
Overall, Sapiens is a book that has its fair share of problems but is still an intriguing and thought-provoking read. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the cultures, beliefs, mechanisms, and structures that shaped the past and govern the present.
I’d rate it 3.5/5 stars. Sapiens may not my favorite piece of literature, but it’s definitely not bad either.
Try This…
See how long you can stare at your thumb. No, I’m not crazy. At least I hope not.
Find a quiet, secluded place where you won’t be bothered, sit down in a comfortable position, and concentrate on your thumb and only that. Time yourself and see how far you can get. Most people break focus, look away, or get distracted pretty quickly. In life, we often lack the stillness that’s required for deeper contemplation. Overstimulation and things that require our immediate attention hit us from all angles, which is why every so often we need to purge ourselves of all of these attention-grabbers and be bored. Boredom might seem lousy and painful, but it is only with emptiness that we can begin to refill ourselves with what matters.
So, test it out and see how far you can get. Or don’t do it and opt not to listen to a teenager making you waste your time. That would probably be the more reasonable thing to do.
When I tried this exercise, I didn’t do that well. Hopefully, I can redeem myself when I attempt it again later.
Quote of the Week
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
– Albert Einstein
Bonus Quote:
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”
- Winnie the Pooh
That’s all for now, Dilan out.
nice