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A review by thesinginglights
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
4.0
I think this book achieves it's aim: to provide an overview of humanity, how we came to be, what we've done, what we might become. Harari writes with a cool, even hand but you can see his fascination of kind of how insane it is that we are here instead of other breeds of Homo and how we've done so much in such little time.
This is perfect for the generalist who wants a nice overhead view of things but will disappoint someone who would like some really in-depth analysis. But that is beyond the capabilities of one man and the bindings of a printer so to quibble with that is to miss the point of the book entirely, as I've seen people comment.
It is not without its flaws, however. First, there are some intellectual sloppiness. For example, he makes a point about Transatlantic slavery not being motivated by racist needs. Instead, he says it's actually economic. What Harari misses is that purported "purely economic" reasoning is the underpinnings of the inherent superiority of white people over others because they saw fit to enslave selectively black people (among other non-white people) instead of the local nearby white persons which in economic terms would probably be more cost-effective. Get the white poor to do their work for them, for example. I am not advocating for that but point out the flaw in that argument. Things like that show the book's limitations. I don't think it's done in bad faith but it's almost laughable considering his in-depth knowledge of history. But he's allowed to be wrong. To expect him to be infallible is unrealistic, irrespective of his expertise.
Second, the tail-end of the book frays when it's clear that what interests him is speculation of what happens next for Sapiens. Clearly it's a set-up for what will eventually be the sequel/spiritual successor book Homo Deus . It read as if he were distracted and I was tired of the book then. What came before I enjoyed and was surprised it took me so long to read.
Otherwise, perfectly accessible and enjoyable with some legitimate insights and new information.
This is perfect for the generalist who wants a nice overhead view of things but will disappoint someone who would like some really in-depth analysis. But that is beyond the capabilities of one man and the bindings of a printer so to quibble with that is to miss the point of the book entirely, as I've seen people comment.
It is not without its flaws, however. First, there are some intellectual sloppiness. For example, he makes a point about Transatlantic slavery not being motivated by racist needs. Instead, he says it's actually economic. What Harari misses is that purported "purely economic" reasoning is the underpinnings of the inherent superiority of white people over others because they saw fit to enslave selectively black people (among other non-white people) instead of the local nearby white persons which in economic terms would probably be more cost-effective. Get the white poor to do their work for them, for example. I am not advocating for that but point out the flaw in that argument. Things like that show the book's limitations. I don't think it's done in bad faith but it's almost laughable considering his in-depth knowledge of history. But he's allowed to be wrong. To expect him to be infallible is unrealistic, irrespective of his expertise.
Second, the tail-end of the book frays when it's clear that what interests him is speculation of what happens next for Sapiens. Clearly it's a set-up for what will eventually be the sequel/spiritual successor book Homo Deus . It read as if he were distracted and I was tired of the book then. What came before I enjoyed and was surprised it took me so long to read.
Otherwise, perfectly accessible and enjoyable with some legitimate insights and new information.