It’s time for another must read on this blog. It’s a book I read a long time. When I read it, it took me months to finish it. I found it so interesting and I read some pages multiple times. It’s a book which was very popular when it came out and there’s also a second book and third book. I have not read those (yet!), but I do want to share the first book here: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
Humankind
This book is not like anything else I’ve shared before on here. It’s not about sustainability, not about social issues, not about minimalism, none of that. This is a history book! Yes, the first history book I’m sharing. A history book about humankind. As the subtitle of the book says: A Brief History of Humankind. I’ve had history in school when I was a lot younger. I couldn’t really be bothered by it then hahaha (and I recognize that same attitude in my younger brother haha). But now that I am older I do actually care. I think that it’s important to know the baselines of history of humankind, even if it’s brief.
Humble
I think history teaches us to be humble. Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years. Homo sapiens (the humans on earth today) have been here for 200,000 years. That’s not long! It’s just a fraction of all time earth has been here. And I also learned that there were more types of humans (like homo floresienis), we’re just the only one that survived. But this book also made me humble because it’s great to see how homo sapiens have evolved over time. I am happy to be alive today and not 200,000 years ago or anywhere in between. History can make me personally humble. Humble for the things our ancestors have invented and the things they have achieved.
Sapiens
As I said, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is a brief history of humankind. It explains history briefly from the beginning of earth till today. The book consists of four parts, all characterized by a revolution that drastically changed the life homo sapiens. Part one is the cognitive revolution. Part two is the agricultural revolution. Part three is the unification of humankind and part four is the scientific revolution. There’re 20 chapters in total. From building pyramids to the capitalist creed, it’s all in there. I remember history class to be about small details I didn’t really care about. This book explains the main things and I think that’s why I liked it so much.
My Opinion
This is the first time I am sharing a book that doesn’t involve action. There’s no call to live more environmentally friendly, more social, more minimalistic or more organized. This book is just there for information. To learn more about humankind. I am sharing it because I thought it was just a really good book. The one thing in the book that struck me the most was the role of religion in the survival of humankind. I had underestimated religion because I am not religious myself. But this book learned that religion was of great significance for the survival of humankind. I hope this unification is still in us. And I hope we will make the world a better place, not worse. By reading Sapiens I (briefly) know what we’ve done so far. The good and the bad.
Yours sincerely,
Romee