Name: Sapiens
Rating: 4.351961509992598 (1351 reviews)
ISBN: 9781784709044

YUVAL NOAH. HARARI

**Over 1 million copies sold** **The Sunday Times #1 bestseller** FIRE gave us power FARMING made us hungry for more MONEY gave us purpose SCIENCE made us deadly This is the thrilling account of our extraordinary history - from insignificant apes to rulers of the world.

A Brief History of Humankind

Sapiens

Yuval Noah Harari

Il y a 100 000 ans, la Terre était habitée par au moins six espèces différentes d'hominidés. Une seule a survécu. Nous, les Homo Sapiens. Comment notre espèce a-t-elle réussi à dominer la planète ? Pourquoi nos ancêtres ont-ils uni leurs forces pour créer villes et royaumes ? Comment en sommes-nous arrivés à créer les concepts de religion, de nation, de droits de l'homme ? À dépendre de l'argent, des livres et des lois ? À devenir esclaves de la bureaucratie, des horaires, de la consommation de masse ? Et à quoi ressemblera notre monde dans le millénaire à venir ? Véritable phénomène d'édition, traduit dans une trentaine de langues, Sapiens est un livre audacieux, érudit et provocateur. Professeur d'Histoire à l'Université hébraïque de Jérusalem, Yuval Noah Harari mêle l'Histoire à la Science pour remettre en cause tout ce que nous pensions savoir sur l'humanité : nos pensées, nos actes, notre héritage... et notre futur.

Une brève histoire de l'humanité

Jose Sbuck

Great book telling the history of homo sapiens as a species. Mr Harari presents us with a lot of food for thought. He follows the familiar history of development of life and development of human culture but often makes you think in new terms. For example, was the agricultural revolution really a blessing? The author suggests that while the humankind was able to produce much more food and multiply in numbers, the (average) individual person was worse off than before. Instead of being a forager roaming the woods, eating nutrient-rich and varied food, the peasant had to toil the land, had a very restricted diet, and was prone to lose it all in case of a bad year for crops. <blockquote>With time, the 'wheat bargain' became more and more burdensome. Children died in droves, and adults ate bread by the sweat of their brows. The average person in Jericho of 8500 BC lived a harder life than the average person in Jericho of 9500 BC or 13,000 BC. But nobody realised what was happening. Every generation continued to live like the previous generation, making only small improvements here and there ... </blockquote> <blockquote>This discrepancy between evolutionary success and individual suffering is perhaps the most important lesson we can draw from the Agricultural Revolution.</blockquote> The author attributes much of humankind's success to our ability to believe in imaginary things or 'myths', such as just rules, religion, human rights, or money. You can't eat money, you can't wear money; money is of no use unless other people believe in its value as well. Common, shared myths such as money enable people to co-operate in large scale and to create surplus that is required for further development. Efficient co-operation is a key enabler, but many times the actual events are quite random. How come did christianity become a world religion? It was just a tiny fraction in a corner of an empire until the emperor decided to embrace it. After giving multiple examples of how the history of humankind has taken unexpected turns Yuval Noah Harari gives a great formulation for the reason to study history: <blockquote>So why study history? Unlike physics or economics, history is not a means for making accurate predictions. We study history not to know the future but to widen our horizons, to understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable, and that we consequently have many more possibilities before us than we imagine.</blockquote> Scientific revolution spread the idea that we do not know it all, and that the truth can't be found in old scriptures. This attitude and the large scale collaboration enables humans to "evolve" at a much higher pace than natural selection provides. While other animals evolve slowly, taking multiple generations, the humans create new ideas at an increasing speed and can thus evolve culturally. Our life is very different compared to the life of our grand-parents even though there can't have been much (any?) natural selection affecting our DNA in such a short time. The big question is, has any of this development made us happier? The author claims that this is not at all clear. How to event count happines? If happiness is determined by our internal feelings, it's just a matter of chemistry (re: Huxley's Brave New World). If happiness is determined by having a meaning in one's life, it seems to require self-delusion: "As far as we can tell, from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning." Maybe happiness is being content, without cravings, as in Buddhism? <blockquote>Or more correctly, that serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin bring about and maintain a marriage. People who are born with a cheerful biochemistry are generally happy and content. Such people are more attractive spouses, and consequently they have a greater chance of getting married. They are also less likely to divorce, because it is far easier to live with a happy and content spouse than with a depressed and dissatisfied one.</blockquote>

Phil

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

A compelling account of the history of humans and how social systems came to be. 

Goldy Y

Victor

An education in an objective view of human-history. If any of the below points sound interesting, definitely check the libro out. The Cognitive Revolution 70,000 BCE: - How more varied and diverse we were before (erectus, floresiensis, neanderthal) - How language (and primarily gossip) allowed us to out compete, out manoeuvre, and out class our counterparts - How this cognitive revolution allowed us develop fictions such as the LimitLiabilityCorporation Peugeot - Humans have huge brains for their size, using 25% of the overall energy, and its consequences The Agricultural Revolution 12,000 BCE - Did we domesticate wheat or were we domesticated by it - Our diet was once more nutritious, varied, and sustainable, being able to survive multiple diseases. - When it comes to gender inequality: biology enables, culture forbids. The idea of “unnatural” behaviors is actually a result of Christian theology, not biology. - Everyone always wants money precisely because everyone else always wants money. - History is moving relentlessly toward unity. The whole planet is moving toward one world culture. The Scientific Revolution 1500s CE - Over the last 200 years, science has increasingly revealed that human behavior is determined by hormones, genes, and neurological synapses. If this is true, then for how much longer will we ignore that biology does not agree with the concept of free will? - “This is the basic lesson of evolutionary psychology: a need shaped in the wild continues to be felt subjectively even if it is no longer really necessary for survival and reproduction.” - Buddhism has studied happiness for over 2,000 years. Interestingly, Buddhism shares many viewpoints on happiness with science. Most notably, that happiness results from processes within the body and not from the outside world. - Many people think the question we should ask to guide our scientific pursuits is, “What do we want to become?” However, because we seem to be on the path to genetically engineer and programme nearly every facets of our wants, desires, and consciousness, the real question we should ask is, “What do we want to want?” Another great quick insight into the book here: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.richardhughesjones.com/yuval-harari-capitalism/" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.richardhughesjones.com/yuv...</a>

Ricardo Machado

Dani

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”

One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Fascinating read, well written and engaging. 

Cassandra Tang

Gabe Cortez

Kinda hits different in 2025. Lots of interesting elements here. Should be required reading when you graduate college. 

It’s more concise and clear then dawn of everything but I think has less scientific evidence. The concepts are very intriguing and have been occupying my head space the whole time. 

Truman M Halladay

Kinda hits different in 2025. Lots of interesting elements here. Should be required reading when you graduate college. 

It’s more concise and clear then dawn of everything but I think has less scientific evidence. The concepts are very intriguing and have been occupying my head space the whole time. 

Finally started reading this one because i have a severe case of contrarianitis where i can’t consume mainstream media at its height of public attention

Haley Park

Hmm. Maybe the hype set an expectation the book was never going to meet. I enjoyed it, after a fashion. It took me two attempts to get going, initially it just didn't grab me enough. But then I pressed on, and found it less hard to pick up again. There's some wry humour, and more than a few subtle digs at various things. I wouldn't say those stylistic choices add or detract from the book. They are what they are (some made me chuckle). Being a brief history means plenty of topics might be a paragraph or two, or a page at most - some of which caused me to break off and go to find deeper material. Can't fault that. Maybe I just need to discuss it further with somebody to fully appreciate it. Is it "essential reading"? Probably not. Is it worth a read though? Yes, for sure.

Mark Phillips

Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout. #1 New York Times Bestseller The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, now available as a beautifully packaged paperback From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

Christian Bager Bach Houmann

I loved reading this book. Absolutely an amazing read throughout.

I enjoyed being told stuff I basically already knew but in a slightly new and very matter of fact way. Made me want to Google lots of random things while I was reading, which is probably a good sign that it was interesting

Terra Ganey

Timeo Williams

Perhaps the best book I have ever read. Yuval does an amazing job of encapsulating human history with an underlying tone of sarcastic humor.

Teresa Bonifácio

What a book. It really makes you think about the way humans got where we are now. I certainly started to view us more as the bad guys (I already had that idea of the Sapiens!). It makes you wonder where we are going to stop and how. If the last species to go into extinction will be ours.

Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind

Reviews

Highlights