Book review: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

This review is a straightforward one. The book in question does a brilliant job in "proving" its worth and manages to captivate the reader throughout. Without giving too much away I will attempt to summarize the most intriguing aspects and share my thoughts on them.

The Topic

The topic at hand is what instantly grabs one's attention. It is a wide-ranging topic that is bound to attract your curiosity. The book delves into the "brief" history of humanity, more specifically humanity as we know it today (aka Homo Sapiens). We get a few glimpses into the preceding history of other hominids and the gist of how they came to influence and be influence by humans. The interesting part comes when Harari starts to connect the dots between history, biology and psychology. The three are intertwined and the author demonstrates this throughout, pushing the reader towards introspection. What I found particularly enthralling in this book was the lack of a straightforward story or plot, it has an almost essay-like feel to it, masterfully mixing hard facts with the author's own well-researched opinions.

The implications

The main point the book tries to get across is that humanity has come to dominate its surroundings, often doing so at the expense of all else. The logical continuation of this is to ask oneself: What comes next? What comes next, given the fact humanity has managed to grow in population almost ten-fold since the Industrial Revolution began? What will happen to us, given mankind's wanton destruction of wildlife habitats and the wiping out of entire ecosystems for the sole purpose of furthering economic growth? The two main events that led to the current situation we find ourselves in are the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The former led to the domestication of animals and crops, which brought forward significant changes to the way people lived and the way they interacted with the world around them. The latter essentially revolutionized the socio-cultural aspect of human existence, wrecking havoc on institutions as old as mankind, such as the bonds between families and small communities.

Future implications

When all is said and done, we need to ask ourselves: Is the path we are on sustainable or could it possibly lead to humongous changes that would make the Industrial Revolution seem like a blip in the radar. The author doesn't pretend to have the answers to these questions, but nonetheless makes a conscious effort at exploring the scope of what it means to be a member of Homo Sapiens in the 21st century and beyond. While nobody can realistically claim to know what tomorrow brings, "Sapiens" by Harari does an impressive job at providing a nuanced look at what the future might hold. Most importantly, the book makes us, the readers, ask the same questions for ourselves.

In Summary

The right mindset is crucial when reading any book that deals with a wide range of topics at once. While Harari does an exquisite job at delving in as much detail as the page count allows him to, please keep in mind that this is not a thorough history book, nor is it a book on sociology or anthropology. It is a book for those who are curious about how humanity came to be where it is at today and what the future may bring, should we live to see it.