Rutger Bregman

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A GUARDIAN, TIMES AND FT SUMMER READ 'How to win friends and save humanity' Literary Review 'This is the book we need right now' Daily Telegraph 'Put aside your newspaper for a little while and read this book' Barry Schwartz It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too. In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world's most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society. It is time for a new view of human nature.

THE MOST UPLIFTING SUMMER READ OF 2020

Humankind

From the author of New York Times bestseller UTOPIA FOR REALISTS, a revolutionary argument that the innate goodness and cooperation of human beings has been the greatest factor in our success. If one basic principle has served as the bedrock of bestselling author Rutger Bregman's thinking, it is that every progressive idea -- whether it was the abolition of slavery, the advent of democracy, women's suffrage, or the ratification of marriage equality -- was once considered radical and dangerous by the mainstream opinion of its time. With Humankind, he brings that mentality to bear against one of our most entrenched ideas: namely, that human beings are by nature selfish and self-interested. By providing a new historical perspective of the last 200,000 years of human history, Bregman sets out to prove that we are in fact evolutionarily wired for cooperation rather than competition, and that our instinct to trust each other has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. Bregman systematically debunks our understanding of the Milgram electrical-shock experiment, the Zimbardo prison experiment, and the Kitty Genovese "bystander effect." In place of these, he offers little-known true stories: the tale of twin brothers on opposing sides of apartheid in South Africa who came together with Nelson Mandela to create peace; a group of six shipwrecked children who survived for a year and a half on a deserted island by working together; a study done after World War II that found that as few as 15% of American soldiers were actually capable of firing at the enemy. The ultimate goal of Humankind is to demonstrate that while neither capitalism nor communism has on its own been proven to be a workable social system, there is a third option: giving "citizens and professionals the means (left) to make their own choices (right)." Reorienting our thinking toward positive and high expectations of our fellow man, Bregman argues, will reap lasting success. Bregman presents this idea with his signature wit and frankness, once again making history, social science and economic theory accessible and enjoyable for lay readers.

A Hopeful History

Devika M

Humans, in short, are anything but poker-faced. We constantly leak emotions and are hardwired to relate to the people around us. But far from being a handicap, this is our true superpower, because sociable people aren’t only more fun to be around, in the end they’re smarter, too.

Should we be grateful that our days of nature are behind us? Or were we once noble savages?

In this digital age, the news we’re being fed is only getting more extreme. In the old days, journalists didn’t know much about their individual readers. They wrote for the masses. But the people behind Facebook, Twitter and Google know you well. They know what shocks and horrifies you, they know what makes you click. They know how to grab your attention and hold it so they can serve you the most lucrative helping of personalised ads.

I was raised to believe that the news is good for your development. That as an engaged citizen it’s your duty to read the paper and watch the evening news. That the more we follow the news, the better informed we are and the healthier our democracy. This is still the story many parents tell their kids, but scientists are reaching very different conclusions. The news, according to dozens of studies, is a mental health hazard.

Elite panic comes from powerful people who see all humanity in their own image. Dictators and despots, governors and generals - they all too often resort to brute force to prevent scenarios that exist only in their own heads, on the assumption that the average Joe is ruled by self interest, just like them.

The dynamic during disasters is almost always the same: adversity strikes and there’s a wave of spontaneous cooperation in response, then the authorities panic and unleash a second disaster.

Aurore

One of the biggest sources of distance these days is the news. Watching the evening news may leave you feeling more attuned to reality, but the truth is that it skews your view of the world. The news tends to generalise people into groups like politicians, elites, racists and refugees. Worse, the news zooms in on the bad apples.

The same is true of social media. What starts as a couple of bullies spewing hate speech at a distance gets pushed by algorithms to the top of our Facebook and Twitter feeds. It’s by tapping into our negativity bias that these digital platforms make their money, turning higher profits the worse people behave. Because bad behaviour grabs our attention, it’s what generates the most clicks, and where we click the advertising dollars follow.

This has turned social media into systems that amplify our worst qualities.

If there’s one person who understood the power of contact it was Nelson Mandela. Years earlier, he had chosen a very different path – the path of violence. In 1960, Mandela had been one of the founding members of the armed wing of the ANC.

But twenty-seven years behind bars can utterly change a person. As the years passed, Mandela began to realise what scientists would later show: nonviolent resistance is a lot more effective than violence.

In nonviolent campaigns, one ingredient is essential: self-control. While in prison, Mandela became a master at keeping a cool head. He decided to study his enemy, reading scores of books about the culture and history of the Afrikaners. He watched rugby. He learned their language. ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands,’ Mandela explained, ‘that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Powerful people don’t have to justify their actions and therefore can afford a blinkered view.

That might also help explain why women tend to score higher than men on empathy tests. A large study at Cambridge University in 2018 found no genetic basis for this divergence, and instead attributed it to what scientists call socialisation.

Due to the way power has traditionally been distributed, it’s mostly been up to women to understand men. Those persistent ideas about a superior female intuition are probably rooted in the same imbalance – that women are expected to see things from a male perspective, and rarely the other way around.

Paul Bloom isn’t joking. According to this psychologist, empathy isn’t a beneficent sun illuminating the world. It’s a spotlight. A searchlight. It singles out a specific person or group of people in your life, and while you’re busy sucking up all the emotions bathed in that one ray of light, the rest of the world fades away.

One thing is certain: a better world doesn’t start with more empathy. If anything, empathy makes us less forgiving, because the more we identify with victims, the more we generalise about our enemies.

The bright spotlight we shine on our chosen few makes us blind to the perspective of our adversaries, because everybody else falls outside our view.

This modern media frenzy is nothing less than an assault on the mundane. Because, let’s be honest, the lives of most people are pretty predictable. Nice, but boring. So while we’d prefer having nice neighbours with boring lives (and thankfully most neighbours fit the bill), ‘boring’ won’t make you sit up and take notice. ‘Nice’ doesn’t sell ads. And so Silicon Valley keeps dishing us up ever more sensational clickbait, knowing full well, as a Swiss novelist once quipped, that ‘News is to the mind what sugar is to the body.’

I was raised to believe that the news is good for your development. That as an engaged citizen it’s your duty to read the paper and watch the evening news. 

That the more we follow the news, the better informed we are and the healthier our democracy. This is still the story many parents tell their kids, but scientists are reaching very different conclusions. The news, according to dozens of studies, is a mental health hazard.

IM GOING TO CRIIII THEY MENTION PAUL BLOOM TOO 🥺🥺 ttg pleasure of suffering as they called “sweet spot” ada di chapter how empathy blinds karena kutipan bukunya against empathy. i have his book too it’s associate and relate ke banyak buku lain kmrnn ada hisfic jg yg missisipi & auschwitz 😭

One thing is certain: if empathy makes us less forgiving, the more we identify with victims, the more we generalize about our enemies. The bright spotlight we shine on our chosen few makes us blind to the perspective of our adversaries, since everybody else falls outside our view

De mens is een beest, zeiden de koningen. Een zondaar, zeiden de priesters. Een egoïst, zeiden de boekhouders. Al eeuwen is de westerse cultuur doordrongen van het geloof in de verdorvenheid van de mens.0Maar wat als we het al die tijd mis hadden? 0In dit boek verweeft Rutger Bregman de jongste inzichten uit de psychologie, de economie, de biologie en de archeologie. Hij neemt ons mee op een reis door de geschiedenis en geeft nieuwe antwoorden op oude vragen. Waarom veroverde juist onze soort de aarde? Hoe verklaren we onze grootste misdaden? En zijn we diep vanbinnen geneigd tot het kwade of het goede?0'De meeste mensen deugen' herschrijft niet alleen de geschiedenis, maar werpt ook nieuw licht op onze toekomst.

De meeste mensen deugen. Een nieuwe geschiedenis van de mens

Taryn

Het kwade is sterker, maar het goede is met meer. 

Eine neue Geschichte der Menschheit

Im Grunde gut

Elisa Klarenberg

Charlie de Zeeuw

ludzie są lepsi, niż myślisz

Homo sapiens

cidden homo sapiens hakkında bir el kitapçığı gibiydi, yazarın her konuyu objektif ele alıp hiç bir tarafı sonuna kadar savunmaması kısmına bayıldım, özellikle benim gibi okuduğu ve mantıklı bulduğu her şeye sarılan biri için iyi bir perspektif oldu

Zeynep Timur

I wish I could make everyone read this book. Its for us all - the ones who believe humanity, and for those who fell out of love for humanity.

Alexandra

Loved! Very reassuring and uplifting. The world is good and we’re all going to be fine 

Allegrachatterjee

Reiza H

"So be realistic. Be courageous. Be true to your nature and offer your trust. Do good in broad daylight, and don't be ashamed of your generosity. You may be dismissed as gullible and naive at first. But remember, what's naive today may be common sense tomorrow."



  Percayakah kamu bahwa manusia pada dasarnya baik?


Setidaknya itulah yang dipercaya oleh Rutger Bregman. Seorang sejarawan asal Belanda ini menghabiskan waktu kurang lebih selama tujuh tahun demi membuktikan pandangannya. Ia membongkar hasil-hasil riset, publikasi ilmiah, serta bertemu dengan orang-orang yang punya visi dan pandangan yang sama.

Turns out, katanya, most humans are pretty decent. Manusia terlahir baik. Sistem dan lingkunganlah yang membuatnya menjadi makhluk yang, mengutip kata Hobbes, bagaikan serigala bagi manusia lainnya. "Homo homini lupus."

Sepanjang sejarah umat manusia, justru kehadiran peradabanlah yang menjadikan manusia sebagai makhluk yang kejam, buas dan egois. Pandangan yang kontroversial, tapi bukan omong kosong. Selama 95% sejarah manusia, hidup kita berpola nomaden. Berpindah-pindah dari satu tempat ke tempat lainnya, dan selama 95% sejarah manusia itu, menurut hasil penelitian yang dilakukannya, manusia hidup damai dan cukup tenang dengan sesamanya. Tidak ada raja yang lalim, tidak ada perusahaan yang mencekik, dan tidak ada kepemilikan pribadi. Semuanya dimiliki dan diusahakan bersama. 

Pertanian dan peradabanlah yang mengubah itu semua. Peradaban mengharuskan manusia untuk membuat struktur sosial yang lebih rumit. Dan dengan munculnya sesuatu yang rumit, muncul pula celah-celah yang perlu diisi dengan kerumitan pula. Sistem pemerintahan, kepemilikan untuk tanah, barang dan sumber daya, ideologi, dan lainnya.

Tetapi haruskah kita menganulir itu semua dan kembali jadi manusia yang berburu dan meramu? Tentu saja tidak. Yang perlu dan bisa kita lakukan adalah mengangkat kembali citra kita sebagai makhluk yang baik, yang siap menolong apabila ada yang kesusahan, yang berkasih sayang dan peduli dengan semua orang, tanpa perlu memandang latar belakang etnis, ras, agama, status, orientasi seksual dan pandangan politik. Karena jika kita melepaskan itu semua, kita ternyata tidak berbeda jauh dengan sesama. Deep down, we're just the same fragile humans.

Lalu, mulai dari mana? Mulailah dari diri sendiri. Mulai coba memanusiakan diri sendiri, lalu ke lingkungan sosial, keluarga, pekerjaan, dan seterusnya.


  "After all, if we believe most people are decent and kind, everything changes. We can completely rethink how we organise our schools and prisons, our businesses and democracies. And how we live our own lives."



  Highly recommended.

Lewis Ngugi

The audiobook was worth it! So much to learn. I believe the theory around starting with the last chapter then going to the 1st chapter immediately after makes a ton of sense. High highly recommend especially if you’ve read Factfulness, Sapiens and Homo Deus.

Een boek dat je aan het denken zet en dat ook nog eens duidelijk en grappig is geschreven. Nog eens extra leuk dat het voorgelezen wordt door de schrijver. 

Ik vond vooral de grappige vergelijkingen leuk, zoals deze:

“Het brein van de Neanderthaler was gemiddeld 15% groter dan ons brein nu. 1.5 liter versus 1.3 liter. Als wij een giga brein hebben, hadden zij een monsterbrein. Wij een MacBook Air, zij een MacBook Pro”.

Een boek dat je aan het denken zet en dat ook nog eens duidelijk en grappig is geschreven. Nog eens extra leuk dat het voorgelezen wordt door de schrijver. 

Ik vond vooral de grappige vergelijkingen leuk, zoals deze:


“Het brein van de Neanderthaler was gemiddeld 15% groter dan ons brein nu. 1.5 liter versus 1.3 liter. Als wij een giga brein hebben, hadden zij een monsterbrein. Wij een MacBook Air, zij een MacBook Pro”.

matej yangwao

** spoiler alert **
           ≥When the going gets tough, we often think of others ahead of ourselves, contrary to popular opinion.

≥Rather than being suspicious of those who want to help, open your mind to the possibility that they care.

Will finish later

Wonderfully refreshing. Thanks for poking holes in my worldview 👍

Erich

Although at times overly simplistic in its approach, 

 still serves as a much needed dose of optimism in an overly cynical world

Jajwol

Although at times overly simplistic in its approach, Humankind still serves as a much needed dose of optimism in an overly cynical world

Yeni Bir Insanlik Tarihi

Cogu Insan Iyidir

Varol Aksoy

Savunduğu fikrin altını güçlü bir şekilde dolduramıyor, zaman zaman konunun dışında bambaşka şeyleri tartışıyordu.

Róbert Istók

I loved every page of this book! It's a book about hope for humanity, and it's much needed in a world where the news and social media tell us otherwise. 

The plotline? Most humans are decent, who want to do good. It's the systems in place that corrupt us.

Bouke van der Bijl

I basically knew all of the stories in this book already and started skipping through some of them as the book progressed. The most interesting part of the book is the Epilogue, where Bregman tells you what conclusions you can make from the book in how you should live your life.

I'm also kind of surprised by the premise of the book, that most people think people are bad. I don't really think that way to be honest. I already believed that most people are good and trustworthy. Can't imagine living my life any other way.

Joshua Line

van Kooten

Kon niet achterblijven, maar de hype rondom dit boek is meer dan verdiend! Bregman is de Nederlandse Hariri maar dan vele malen positiver (en dus realistischer). 
Leert je van het goede uit te gaan maar ook kritischer te kijken naar het nieuws en zelfs wetenschappelijke onderzoeken.
Interessant voor iedereen, ook (misschien wel ‘juist’!) voor scholieren. Een boek wat ik maar al te graag “verplicht” op school had moeten lezen! Schrik niet van de dikte van het boek, je zit er zo in! Must read.

Irene Alegre

Just finished reading ‘Human kind’ by Rutger Bregman, which is a mix of anthropology, sociology and history with a pinch of human psychology thrown into the mix. I have mixed feelings about it, mostly because the author is quite biased and it shows (even though he claims he made every effort to reduce that bias). Some parts were brilliant and enthralling, others not so much. It is indeed an optimistic view on human nature though, which I welcome. I would recommend it with a pinch of salt on the side for good measure.

Katie Chua

listen, i really like this book. i think everyone should read this book instead of sapiens. there are two things that are stopping me from giving it five stars: i'm always a little wary/suspicious of science/history books for the general public (how much are they dumbing down and leaving out?) and this could've been way more radical and exciting in the last section when discussing changes

Brendan M

A fascinating and easy to read book, which is infectiously optimistic in its debunking of some of the most famous myths of cynicism and the dark view of human nature. For instance, Bregman shows that the Stanford Prison Experiment was essentially a fraud. Let down slightly by the final quarter, which is more vignettes of things he agrees with than meaty policy proposals.

Emma-Luna Riegsinger

audiobook. Wow! This changes so much. Made me even more full of hope about humanity than Factfulness (by Hans Rosling) because I am a sucker for sociology, psychology and stories rather than statistics.

Marloes

Der Historiker und Journalist Rutger Bregman setzt sich in seinem neuen Buch mit dem Wesen des Menschen auseinander. Anders als in der westlichen Denktradition angenommen ist der Mensch seinen Thesen nach nicht böse, sondern im Gegenteil: von Grund auf gut. Und geht man von dieser Prämisse aus, ist es möglich, die Welt und den Menschen in ihr komplett neu und grundoptimistisch zu denken. In seinem mitreißend geschriebenen, überzeugenden Buch präsentiert Bregman Ideen für die Verbesserung der Welt. Sie sind innovativ und mutig und stimmen vor allem hoffnungsfroh.

Flavia Louise

Extrem interessantes Buch, dass viele Dinge aufzeigt, die man schonmal gehört oder am eigenen Leib erfahren hat und letztendlich ein revolutionäres Plädoyer an das Gute im Menschen zu glauben um die Welt zu einem besseren Ort zu machen. Ich empfehle es aus ganzem Herzen

Nadine 

A positive upbeat look at the positivity in humankind. I enjoyed the fact that the prologue was written by the author and actually wish he'd narrated the whole book as preferred his narration to that of the "professional".
Some of the stories have a life already in the popular press, including that of the "real Lord of the Flies". 
I particularly liked the way in which the book was "chunked" and the different sections were introduced and summarised. 
In these difficult times it's a wonderful, upbeat book to read.

Lauren 

This was just encouraging, if your worried about people read this and feel more assured that not everyone is bad.

Sanne Daerden

Heel sterk begin. Zeker de eerste hoofdstukken lezen als een trein. Meer naar het einde raakt hij mij wat kwijt. Iets teveel losse onderzoeken met hun bewijzen waarvan de resultaten al dan niet als correct kunnen worden beschouwd. Ik denk er wel wat van geleerd te hebben. Ik keek zelf al positief naar de mensheid, hopelijk kan ik het nu wat beter uitdragen.

Lynn

Incredible. This book gets down to discussing the theories and interpretations of research in a myriad of fields that have shaped society’s view of humanity. It pulls the rug from under them and sheds a newer, brighter light on human nature and the self-fulfilling prophecies that created it. Unafraid to admit fault and brave enough to persevere to get at the truth he presents what the world could be like. And boy do I wanna live in his world. 10/10.

Humankind THE MOST UPLIFTING SUMMER READ OF 2020

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