Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari
Related videos
78:31
Live, in-depth author presentation with slides
809K
7K
Mar, 2016
Spoiler:
The author shares that at the heart of any large-scale human cooperation is a work of fiction: a shared myth or a religion that causes us to obey the same norms and therefore work together. You cannot convince a chimpanzee that if he gives you a banana he’ll go to heaven when he dies and receive lots of bananas. But humans are prone to that sort of belief and, fictional as it may be, it has allowed us to cooperate in ways that helped us dominate the planet.
41:43
Author narrates over photos and video footage to explain man’s rise
609K
14K
Apr, 2021
Spoiler:
How did Homo sapiens come to dominate the planet? For one thing, we are the only animal that has learned to cooperate flexibly, in massive numbers. The second factor is our imagination, in particular the ability to invent stories that become common myths (a/k/a religion) and allow us to cooperate, again, in large numbers. The ability to create fictions that get millions of people conforming to the same norms also extends to politics, economics and legal areas such as human rights.
9:21
The rise of Homo sapiens, explained in animated form
21K
520
Apr, 2018
Spoiler:
This animated video, which is part one of two, distills and illuminates some of the main ideas from a portion of Yuval Noah Harari’s book. To explain how Homo sapiens began to succeed, the author proposes that two things allowed us to cooperate in large groups: language, at which we are exceptional, and common myths. The belief in common stories, even if those stories are false, allows us to cooperate flexibly and in vast numbers, far beyond what social insects such as bees, termites, and ants can do.
Follow the author
Other books by Yuval Noah Harari
Publications
GatesNotes: How did humans get smart? Melinda and I spent weeks talking about this history of the human race.
The Guardian: A swash-buckling account that begins with the origin of the species and ends with post-humans
Discovery Institute: A Scientifically Weak and Ethically Uninspiring Vision of Human Origins
The Wall Street Journal: How Humankind Conquered the World
Ask Albert:
Rate the book
More books
"The NASA managers and astronauts alike were in the grip of what they would later recognize as “‘Go’ Fever”—the desperate drive to push on toward a launch..."
"Between 1942 and 1944, an estimated six tons of dental gold were deposited in the vaults of the Reichsbank."
"The world’s chip industry, as well as the assembly of all the electronic goods chips enable, depends more on the Taiwan Strait and the South China coast than on any other chunk of the world’s territory except Silicon Valley."
"The universe is vast and varied, daily forcing scientists to confront, accommodate, measure, and analyze the diversity of all that’s out there."
"With its high profits and bifurcated labor force, California modeled capitalist discipline for the nation."
"The world of the past few decades has been the best it will ever be in our lifetime. Instead of cheap and better and faster, we’re rapidly transitioning into a world that’s pricier and worse and slower. Because the world—our world—is breaking apart."
"Venezuela falls always into the same trap, opting for the strongman, the caudillo, a savior on a white horse."
"There are three things that create a reserve currency: a strong economy, a strong military, and an open capital account. The United States has all three, but its relative position is declining, while China's is rising."
"In the age of AI, the most valuable commodity will be data, and those who control it will hold enormous power."
recommends
"The world has made spectacular progress in every single measure of human well-being."
"The ability to make connections across disciplines—arts and sciences, humanities and technology —is a key to innovation, imagination, and genius."
"I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills."
"The Blank Slate is the denial of the deep roots of human nature. It is the idea that we are all born as blank slates, but that society can mold us into whatever it wants us to be."
recommends
"Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to becoming you."
"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special."
"The Blitz was not just a battle of bombs and buildings; it was a battle of wills, a test of endurance, a clash of values."
"It is a story of violent conquest and occupation; of conspiracies against slavery and colonialism; of revolutions attempted, victorious, and undone."
"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."