Yuval Noah Harari discusses his new book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be human. One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
See also his Coursera MOOC: A Brief History of Humankind.
About 2 million years ago our human ancestors were insignificant animals living in a corner of Africa. Their impact on the world was no greater than that of gorillas, zebras, or chickens. Today humans are spread all over the world, and they are the most important animal around. The very future of life on Earth depends on the ideas and behavior of our species.
This course will explain how we humans have conquered planet Earth, and how we have changed our environment, our societies, and our own bodies and minds. The aim of the course is to give students a brief but complete overview of history, from the Stone Age to the age of capitalism and genetic engineering. The course invites us to question the basic narratives of our world. Its conclusions are enlightening and at times provocative. For example:
· We rule the world because we are the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in our own imagination, such as gods, states, money and human rights.
· Humans are ecological serial killers – even with stone-age tools, our ancestors wiped out half the planet's large terrestrial mammals well before the advent of agriculture.
· The Agricultural Revolution was history’s biggest fraud – wheat domesticated Sapiens rather than the other way around.
· Money is the most universal and pluralistic system of mutual trust ever devised. Money is the only thing everyone trusts.
· Empire is the most successful political system humans have invented, and our present era of anti-imperial sentiment is probably a short-lived aberration.
· Capitalism is a religion rather than just an economic theory – and it is the most successful religion to date.
· The treatment of animals in modern agriculture may turn out to be the worst crime in history.
· We are far more powerful than our ancestors, but we aren’t much happier.
· Humans will soon disappear. With the help of novel technologies, within a few centuries or even decades, Humans will upgrade themselves into completely different beings, enjoying godlike qualities and abilities. History began when humans invented gods – and will end when humans become gods.
7 comments:
Counting the number of human species is highly problematic. The idea that there were six species 100,000 years ago and only one today leads to all sorts of problems. For example, if Neanderthals and Densovians bred with our ancestors, then according to the Dobzhansky-Mayr species definition all three are the same species. However, there are many problems with that definition, and while it appears in all the textbooks, most taxonomists appear to use morphology, geography, behavior and physiology to assign species status. Hence, we have wolves, dogs and coyotoes as recognized species although they often interbreed.
Then there is the idea that there in only one human species alive today. That is actually a political statement. Cavalli-Sforza keeps stirring the pot. He officially states there is only one human species, but then he keeps classifying us. For example, fig 5.4 on p. 119 of "History and Geography of Human Genes." This shows a nice phylogenetic tree with branches for Africans, New Guinea/Australians, Pacific Islanders, Southeast Asians, Northeast Asian, Arctic Asiatics, American Indians, Europeans and non-European Caucasoids. Is he claiming nine species and/or races or what? How are we supposed to think about that figure?
"History began when humans invented gods – and will end when humans become gods."
I wouldn't count on history ending at that point...
He's just being poetic, or narrowly defining history as the story of the original homo sapiens.
I enjoyed Harari's book -- I think I bought it on your recommendation. I think the most interesting message I took from the book is that the much discussed anthropocene actually began tens of thousands of years ago -- perhaps you could date it to when the first humans arrived in Australia and changed that continent profoundly. Certainly by the time humans had populated the Americas, the anthropocene was well underway.
He's claiming 9 populations, not species and not races. Some people want those populations to be defined as races and some don't.
His Coursera lectures are very well done. Lots of stuff therein to think about.
"· Empire is the most successful political system humans have invented, and our present era of anti-imperial sentiment is probably a short-lived aberration."
Roman empire lasted longer than Greek system for sure. Today's people power govement (democracy, socialism, communism,ect) seems heading to self-destruction like ancient Greeks.
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