Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

June 7, 2020 — June 30, 2020

Los Angeles, CA

Read with my mother

I truly cannot consider one to be “educated” without reading this book, because it covers almost everything, and it’s understandable why: because everything revolves around humans or Sapiens. History, philosophy, anthropology, economy, and more fields are discussed beautifully in this book. It’s interesting to understand how we came about our cultures, actions, ideas, and structures from the “wise man” species 70,000 years ago to the current globalized and capitalistic humans that live today.

While the book is packed with a variety of topics and an array of information, I will mention points that I found most interesting, significant, or igniting. During the hunter-gatherer period, humans held much more knowledge as individuals than they do now (due to specialization) which has led to our brain size decreasing over time. Our presence has also been one of destruction and competition, leading to other species becoming extinct and our world deteriorating overall. Wheat is the resource that has shaped how we planned, lived, and worked; it led to our population growth and permanent settlements by civilizations. While we have always attempted to make our lives easier through different revolutions, it has actually made life more stressful and less satisfying due to the demands we must meet. Everything we believe in is not a reality, however, a myth that has been accepted and followed by the majority to the point it has become part of our system. These beliefs’ cultural aspects are shaped over time, however, the biological aspect has always remained the same; it’s how we perceive society, not what the scientific reality is that controls the world (such as the role of women).

The monetary, imperial, and universal religious orders have driven the world’s advancement but also its corruption. Humans conquer, whether it's to spread their empire’s vision or because they’re curious to discover. Curiosity killed the cat, but it wasn’t the cat that was the curious one. I’m amazed at how smart humans are to create, however, how their intentions have created unforeseen evil. An example would be discrimination against Black people being a result of slavery, however, slavery was not a result of racism, it was actually a result of capitalism. We have to realize that while we have our own personalities, we are very much so always going to be shaped or influenced by westernization and capitalism (yes, even if you are a nationalistic socialist). I highly recommend reading this book as it’s so packed with different information, it's impossible to even fit all the other topics I was inspired, influenced, or ignited by here.