My Book Pick: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
- Director, Kayukawa Clinic, Yuhei Kayukawa, M.D.
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Aichi Insurance Physicians’ Newspaper
March 25, 2017
Yuval Noah Harari
Harper
I was immediately drawn into Sapiens by its original arguments, which go far beyond a simple overview of two million years of human history. A book of this scope may not have appeared since Engels’ Dialectics of Nature. Harari seems to have an extraordinary grasp of almost every aspect of human society, discussing language, the origins of myths and religions, states and colonialism, the Age of Exploration, the scientific and technological revolutions, the rise and fall of capitalism, imperialism, and communism, as well as modern nations, human happiness, and war.
Harari boldly argues that social laws, insurance, and even paper money are based on shared fictions rooted in trust. He identifies humanity’s greatest intellectual ability as the capacity to talk about things that exist only in our imagination. This ability, he argues, enabled Homo sapiens to become the dominant species on Earth. He also points out that the Agricultural Revolution, in which hunter-gatherers settled and began farming, paradoxically made human beings busier, triggered a population explosion, and gave rise to elites living in abundance.
In the chapter on “The Future of Humankind,” he writes that humans have always tried to improve their circumstances by using various tools to address problems outside themselves or within their bodies and minds. But advances in genetic research have rapidly deepened our understanding of the human body. Humanity is now approaching technologies that could allow us to change the characteristics of our own species. Although the modern world prides itself on being the first in history to recognize the fundamental equality of all human beings, it may also be on the verge of creating the most unequal society ever.
This remarkable work of insight may well offer valuable food for thought as we contemplate the end of life.
