Sapiens

A Brief History of Humankind

De: Yuval Noah Harari

Narrado por: Derek Perkins

#1 New York Times Bestseller • New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century • The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama and Bill Gates

Official U.S. edition

From renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari 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.

Should be required reading

Part science, part pontification, purely thought provoking. This book may not make you change your life, but it will certainly impact the way you think about your life. I'm not an anthropology wonk, so learning about the evolution of Sapiens was educational for me, and I enjoyed that it was infused with humor to humanize it a bit. The book is also infused with a lot of Harari's own biases on religion, veganism, consumerism - and so forth. I loved this about the book - others might find it irritating.

There is a very long chapter on how our consumerism has been absolutely devastating to the animals we share the planet with. It was difficult to read, and not because it isn't true, but because it made me feel like shit. I don't know that I'll go full on vegan, but I recognize my impact and I am committed to cutting my meat consumption significantly.

The ending is pretty bleak, but we have also innovated our way into a pretty scary crossroads. Which road will we take? Moving on to Homo Deus. This is one of the those books that should be required reading for everyone. I'm going to recommend it to all of my friends. All two of them.

Expands upon the book Guns, Germs, and Steel

The first half dove into human history quiet nice and thorough. Once Sapiens are introduced into history, then the writing bounces around history a bunch. I found myself asking why certain parts of history were not mentioned or glossed over while others were intensely focused. Why so much focus on the American Revolution and barely any mention of empires and wars such as WWII? I also was curious why there wasn't any mention of the Israeli Palestinian conflict while other countries conflicts were brought up.
The economic subjects around money and statistics and commerce were fascinating. This gave a great background of today's commerce in historical terms easily understood.
The last few chapters were enlightening in where we are heading and a subject I find myself in conversations with others.

Everyone Should Read This.

To understand the future you have to understand the past. This book is a quick primer. There are other sources that go more into depth, but this book is fantastic at taking the entirety of human civilizational history and condensing it down into something very digestible. Can’t recommend this enough, especially for people hoping to pray or wish our problems away. The only way to understand why we have the problems we have is to understand how we got to where we are in the first place.

Great inforn mation

Great historical and societal information. Only grip is some of Yuval's conclusions seem too certain.

Must Read

Every person should read this. One of those books that changes the way you see the world.