Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari surveys human history from the Stone Age to the 21st century through three revolutionary frameworks: the Cognitive Revolution (70,000 years ago enabling myths and large-scale cooperation), the Agricultural Revolution (12,000 years ago increasing population but worsening individual lives), and the Scientific Revolution (500 years ago built on admitting ignorance). The book argues that money, empires, and universal religions are the principal drivers shaping humankind. With 182 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list and translations in 65 languages, it examines how storytelling separates humans from all other animals.
11 sections ยท 41 lessons
Course outline
Human Origins
- Sapiens Rise
- Megafauna Extinctions
- Species Extinction
- Human Origins
Cognitive Revolution
- Language
- Cooperation
- Fictions
- Social Orders
- Cognitive Revolution
Forager Life
- Forager Affluence
- Egalitarianism
- Forager Life
Agricultural Revolution
- Farming Trap
- Health Cost
- Domestication
- Agricultural Revolution
Social Hierarchies
- Hierarchies
- Self-Reinforcing
- Writing & Bureaucracy
- Social Hierarchies
Global Unification
- Money & Trust
- Money's Values
- Empires
- Imperial Legacy
- Universal Religions
- Religion
- Global Unification
Scientific Revolution
- Admitting Ignorance
- Science & Power
- Science, Empire, Capitalism
- Colonial Science
- Scientific Revolution
Industrial Capitalism
- Perpetual Growth
- Industrial Transformation
- Ecological Cost
- Industrial Capitalism
Ecological Consequences
- Prehistoric Extinctions
- Ecosystem Replacement
- Industrial Acceleration
- Ecological Consequences
Happiness and Progress
- Progress & Happiness
- Hedonic Treadmill
- Happiness Metrics
- Happiness and Progress
The Future
- Intelligent Design
- Enhancement Ethics
- Post-Human Future
- What to Want
- Technology & Meaning
- Animals to Gods
- Central Challenge
- The Future