A Brief History of Humankind
BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI
Scholarly and Thought-Provoking
5 stars out of 5 stars
This book contains a wealth of information about the history of humankind as well as thought provoking projections about the future.
The book begins with short but captivating sentences defining physics, chemistry, biology and history. (Just these definitions are worth the price of the book.) It proceeds to point out that there used to be several types of homo (man), but only the species sapiens (wise) survives. Indeed, the sapiens were the main culprits for the destruction of the other homo species, the best known of which was the Neanderthals. We also destroyed or tortured numerous species of animals as well and have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of biology.
Homo Sapiens started as hunters/foragers. The author told the development of humankind and its history through the lenses of the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and Modern Times. Along the way, the reader learns about the origin and history of money, theories of why men dominate women, the difference between the beliefs of Protestants and Catholics, a concise definition of capitalism, the origin of the name Wall Street, what started the Atlantic slave trade, obscure names such as Hammurabi’s Code, The Gilgamesh Project, and Fritz Haber (who actually was a Nobel Prize winner). Even the philosophical question of “What is happiness” is dealt with.
On a personal note, this reader, who taught at the University of Mississippi for 10 years in the first decade of the 21st century, only learned the name Clennon King from reading this book. King was a black student who applied to the University of Mississippi in 1958 and was forcefully committed in a mental asylum. The presiding judge ruled that a black person must surely be insane to think that he could be admitted to the University of Mississippi.
In the section on modern history, the author took a relatively buoyant approach, citing that “Since 1945, no independent country recognized by the UN has been conquered and wiped off the map. Limited international wars still occur from time to time, …. but wars are no longer the norm.” The author admitted that he took this buoyant approach probably because the book was written in 2014. Clearly, he would have to revise this statement somewhat if he does plan to do a second edition, which should take into account the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Religious folks would probably not agree with the author’s statements “… from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning. Humans are the outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate without goal or purpose.” Moreover, the history of humankind as told in the book clearly spanned a time period different from the Bible.
Interestingly, “Ambitious and Illuminating” were the words used in the review of the book by Christian Science Monitor. Evidently, there are science monitors among Christians.
Regardless of whether you agree or not, here is a statement containing much truth:
“The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum.”
The author went on to point out that certain words in the key sentence in the American Declaration of Independence do not make sense from the standpoint of biology: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
According to the author, from the standpoint of biology, the underlined words should be modified to:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are evolved differently, that they are born with certain mutable characteristics, and that among these are life and the pursuit of pleasure.”
The author admits that advocates of equality and human rights may be outraged by this line of reasoning. If you are one of them, may be your rage will turn to a smile when you read about the message that a native Indian in a desert town in the Western US asked Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to tell the moon folks when they landed on the moon, and why the Continents discovered by Columbus were named America and not Columbus.
In conclusion, one learns in this book the good, the bad, the ugly and the possible end of Homo Sapiens sometime in the future.
Audio Version on YouTube:
The following illustrations are from Wikipedia:
Homo species
The Agricultural Revolution
The Industrial Revolution
The Scientific Revolution
Modern Times Top: First atomic bomb explosion
Bottom: The James Webb Space Telescope
Link to Amazon Review:
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