Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari

 Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari

Introduction

If you have been following along here at all, by this time you realize that my reading and thinking has been tending more and more strongly to just how humans work. Recently that has been an excursion into neuroscience and behavioral economics. Back when I started this business, I was focused on differences in culture and how that has affected nations and their economic development. Think Guns, Germs and Steel, and the like. (Jared Diamond wrote the introduction to Harari's book.) Well, a new hero has arrived. Harari is an historian - of all things. But he is a very ‘reflective’ historian. He is as well versed in Buddhist philosophy, neurological research, economics and the latest technology as anyone I have encountered. And he THINKS about things. Like - why study history!? What does progress really mean? What is human happiness? 

I have rarely encountered a book that has made me think as much as this one. He also has a follow on volume: Homo Deus. He said as he was talking to people about this history, they always asked him to project what happens next - eventually, all of those projections ended up in the later book. It is also worth your time. He also wrote 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, which I reviewed some time ago.

https://carlscheider.blogspot.com/2018/10/21-lessons-for-21st-century-book-report_29.html

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama highly recommended it as well - so there’s my argument from authority. See this link.  

You will also find there a wonderful summary of the book, and  a collection of key ideas , such as this one:

"In these blinks, we will explore those key elements in human history – from the development of language to the creation of money – that have made us who we are today.
In these blinks, you’ll discover:

• why farming actually made people worse off;

• why writing was invented to chase up lapsed debts; and

• why the last decades have been the most peaceful in history.”

And if all of that does not persuade you to read the book, follow along a bit more here.

Other References

If you are more of a visual and auditory person, Harari is all over YouTube with this book and his latr ones. Here is a recording of the first chapter - not sure how this works with copyright - but . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMuXyXh84B0

What Follows Here

I find that I retain information much better if I write about it, if I operate on it a bit, and try to get a personal insight into it. So the rest of this entry is my personal reflection on the key ideas I got from the book. This is primarily for my benefit, but you are welcome to follow along if you would like. 

The most amazing thing to me is how much Harari actually understands about the latest research into humanity, our brain, physiology and the like. I often think if we could just get the best of what we know together and present it to people simply, they would all be amazed and changed by that information. Well - in this book you have about 90% of what I think are the important new data from research, cast into the long term perspective of the history of humankind. Perfect. UM - the book was published several years ago - and things are moving on, but . . .

Other Species

We were not the first humanoids, nor even the latest. But something special about us helped us dominate the planet, and, in some fashion, eliminate all of the other humanoids. It is not clear whether we simply out populated them, or out competed for resources, or whether we actually exterminated them. Harari thinks that superiority comes from our ability to make up myths or stories, and to engage our fellows in the same myth so that we can cooperate. He calls it the “cognitive revolution”. Think of the “selfish gene”, and of Haidt’s “tribal gene’, or E.O Wilson’s social need. We also have a strong hierarchical tradition that worked well with that need for social binding.

Along the way, we have also eliminated thousands of other species, intentionally, or inadvertently. When humans arrived in Australia for the first time, the continent was populated with huge mammals of all types. None of them survived. We have far more domesticated animals now than there are wild animals left on the planet. We have many more domesticated dogs than wolves. We have tons of beef cattle, and only a few giraffes or rhinos left.

Harari makes a wonderful case for the emotional and conscious life of all of these other species. In my humble opinion, of we are ever to be really good stewards of the planet, we need to consider how to enhance the life of all of these other conscious entities. This value system might come in handy when we are faced with the superhuman beings or machines that we create, or the interstellar voyagers that are way beyond us. ALL life has value - ok? Thanks.

Religion

I’ve broken these down into categories rather than just following along in the book. It helps me to think. Harari is a Jewish non believer. But he is not anti-religion. He understands profoundly the power of the religious myths that humans have created. This is not an argument for atheism, or for or against any religion. It is an attempt to understand where we go when we run out of the “supernatural” myths that have sustained us for all of these years. We might look back on the ‘mistaken’ beliefs of animism, or medieval Christianity with some disdain. People in that myth lived their lives primarily to attain a heaven after this life. It gave them great meaning and purpose, energy and vision - enough to create great cathedrals, wondrous works of art and music, and encouraged them to slaughter millions of their fellow men who did not agree with their beliefs. He says that the primary religion today is “liberalism” - the myth that human beings matter, that every human life has value, that the pursuit of human development and freedom is worth any price.  We call this myth “human rights”, but this is another one that we have created. It is no better or worse in terms of human happiness than the medieval myths that we now look down on. 

Harari made me think my own path in this religion and belief business. I have been a non-believing, practicing Catholic for almost my entire life. My belief is not a myth, it is a choice. I choose to believe that human life has meaning and purpose. I choose to believe that I can further that life just a bit by living as a person in community with others, as a person trying to move human society so that everyone can participate to the fullest extent. I think that is the fundamental message of Jesus of Nazareth, and I am committed to helping with that. That does not mean that I think that Jesus has the only good words, or the only way to truth. He has a very good message that resonates with me, and I choose to make that part of my life’s purpose. I choose to believe that the best outcome for all humans will come from a system of belief and laws and rights that that understands that we are all interdependent, that each one of us prospers or fails with every other one of us. I choose to believe that a social system structured on that premise would give the maximum benefit to all humans, and would also be the most effective and efficient. If Harari calls that “liberalism”, so be it.

Mindfulness

The book has a wonderful summary of Buddhism as a philosophy, not a religion. I opt to call that mindfulness, just to distinguish it from any religious overtone. The key idea here is to live in the moment - to experience the life we have right now. If it is pain, or joy - live in it, think about it, experience it. The key Buddhist insight is that to avoid ALL pain, it is necessary to let go of yearning, whether that is for joy or to avoid pain. Be aware of the now - do not strive to hold on to the joy, nor to avoid the pain. Life is what life is. Be thoughtful, be aware, but do not get carried away by the current fashion, or mode, or whatever. You are the only you that you will ever be. Think, experience, decide based on your life, not on the crowd, not on the short term passion of emotion.

Global Unification

One positive note in all of this - Harari sees the LONG arc of human history as clearly pushing toward global unification. In a sense, we have already arrived there. For a multitude of reasons, we are living in one of the most peaceful periods of human history. The small skirmishes that we are currently experiencing are nothing compared to the centuries of warfare that we have waged on each other. As I write this in 2022 - several years after I read the book - it does feel like the wheels are coming off a bit.

We shall see. Stay Safe. We are all in this together, and I'm pulling for you.