Sapiens a brief history of humankind book review

1. Sapiens: A Brief
History of
Humankind
By Yuval Noah Harari

2. CONTENT
• Introduction
• Key Points
• Review

3. INTRODUCTION
• Sapiens: A Brief History of humankind is a book by Yuval Noah Harari, First
published in Hebrew in Israel in 2011 based on a series of lectures Harari taught at
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in English in 2014.
• The book surveys the history of humankind and he divides the history of
humankind in four major part.
1. The Cognitive Revolution(70,000 BCE)
2. The Agricultural Revolution(10,000 BCE)
3. The Unification of Humankind
4. The Scientific Revolution(1500 BCE)

4. Key Points
• The Beginning
• The Human Family
• Human Characteristics
• Human & Fire
• Homo Sapiens’ Inventions
• Australia & Homo Sapiens
• History’s Biggest Fraud(Agricultural Revolution)
• Writing
• Discovery of history
• The Marriage of Science and Empire
• Industrial Revolution
• The End of Homo Sapiens

5. Review
• Just 6 million years ago, the human species did not exist: "a single female ape had
two daughters. One became the ancestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our own
grandmother." The wide variety of human species --
sapiens, erectus, neanderthalensis -- evolved from evolutionary pressures like any
other species. Why did sapiens survive and thrive and what particular
characteristics enabled our species to dominate the planet so completely as we do
today?
• The mastery of weapons and fire enabled us to hunt, to cook our food, and to
control our environment (primarily by burning down forests and as weapons
against predators). But all human species enjoyed these technologies. It was Homo
sapiens' big brains, evolved only ~150,000 years ago, which enabled us to conquer
the planet, eliminate all other human species, and control the planet.

6. • Around 30,000 years ago, a cognitive revolution occurred -- sapiens were now
able to imagine and describe things which do not exist in the real world. This
"fictive language" has enabled all finance, culture, religion, and politics in the
millennia since. The ability to believe in an afterlife can lead to a belief in
morality, which can lead to a belief in human rights. None of these concepts exist
in the natural world, they are all collective imaginations of humanity. Yet they all
shape the destiny of our species and our planet, more than our genetic code ever
has.
• This book is a fantastic exploration of the evolution of modern humans from their
appearance in Africa millions of years ago, to their extreme technological and self-
improving advancements today. Why did Homo sapiens dominate the other
species of humans? How did we move from a primarily hunting-and-gathering
society to a primarily agricultural one? How have capitalism, religion, liberalism,
and the scientific revolution improved or degraded our lives? And are any of these
inherently good things? Are any of us happier now than our early ancestors,
hunting game on the plains of Africa? I strongly recommend this book for anyone
interested in the answers to the above questions.