Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

This is the book I wanted The Science of Discworld II: The Globe to be. It deals with the same material and comes at it from the same perspective, but it's much better organized and more comprehensive, with less of a tendency to wander into the "what if" of it all.

Sapeins is a comprehensive history of humankind, looking at large trends over the existence of our species and mostly glossing over details. Harari focuses on large, sweeping trends in an effort to find larger patterns.

He breaks this history down into three revolutions. The cognitive revolution, when humans leaped to the top of the food chain. The agricultural revolution, when we went from hunter/gatherers to farmers and started building cities. And the scientific revolution, when we admitted our ignorance and started making great strides in understanding.

The thing that sets us apart from other animals, Harari argues and I find myself agreeing, is our ability to tell stories. To make up fictions and explore what-if scenarios, to use mythologies to unite larger and larger groups of people and direct them to a common purpose.

I found this book fascinating, and it got me thinking about new things in new ways. That said, it got a little bracing towards the end, as Harari starts hinting at what he thinks the future has in store for humanity (or possibly the other way around). There were a few things I skimmed over, not wanting to think too deeply about.

And so I'm looking at his next book, Homo Deus, with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. It's going to be fascinating. It's going to scare the pants off me. I'm excited to read it, and I'm going to read it, but I'm finding that I have to build myself up to it.

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