Sapiens

Discover how cognitive, agricultural, and scientific shifts transformed our species. You will explore how shared myths allowed humans to build empires and dominate the planet. * **Analyze the Cognitive Revolution** and our shared myths * **Evaluate the Agricultural Revolution** and its lasting impact * **Trace the Scientific Revolution** to modern global power * **Master the evolutionary power** of collective storytelling

11 sections ยท 41 lessons

Course outline

Human Origins

  1. Sapiens Rise
  2. Megafauna Extinctions
  3. Species Extinction
  4. Human Origins

Cognitive Revolution

  1. Language
  2. Cooperation
  3. Fictions
  4. Social Orders

Forager Life

  1. Forager Affluence
  2. Egalitarianism

Agricultural Revolution

  1. Farming Trap
  2. Health Cost
  3. Domestication

Social Hierarchies

  1. Hierarchies
  2. Self-Reinforcing
  3. Writing & Bureaucracy

Global Unification

  1. Money & Trust
  2. Money's Values
  3. Empires
  4. Imperial Legacy
  5. Universal Religions
  6. Religion

Scientific Revolution

  1. Admitting Ignorance
  2. Science & Power
  3. Science, Empire, Capitalism
  4. Colonial Science

Industrial Capitalism

  1. Perpetual Growth
  2. Industrial Transformation
  3. Ecological Cost

Ecological Consequences

  1. Prehistoric Extinctions
  2. Ecosystem Replacement
  3. Industrial Acceleration

Happiness and Progress

  1. Progress & Happiness
  2. Hedonic Treadmill
  3. Happiness Metrics

The Future

  1. Intelligent Design
  2. Enhancement Ethics
  3. Post-Human Future
  4. What to Want
  5. Technology & Meaning
  6. Animals to Gods
  7. Central Challenge

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