 Cover of the book | |
| Author | Yuval Noah Harari |
|---|---|
| Original title | קיצור תולדות האנושות |
| Language | Hebrew (2011) English (2014) |
| Subject | History,social philosophy |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | Dvir Publishing House Ltd. (Israel) Random House Harper |
Publication date | 2011 |
| Publication place | Israel |
| Pages | 443 |
| ISBN | 978-0062316097 |
| Followed by | Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow |
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Hebrew:קיצור תולדות האנושות,Qitzur Toldot ha-Enoshut) is a 2011 book by the Israeli military historianYuval Noah Harari, based on a series of lectures he gave atThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was first published inHebrew inIsrael in 2011, and inEnglish in 2014.[1][2] The book surveys the history ofhumankind, beginning in theStone Age and ending in the 21st century. The account relies on a fusion of thenatural sciences with thesocial sciences.
Harari's work places human history within a framework, with thenatural sciences setting limits for human activity andsocial sciences shaping what happens within those bounds. The academic discipline of history is the account of cultural change.
Harari surveys the history of humankind from theStone Age up to the 21st century, focusing onHomo sapiens. He divides the history ofH. sapiens into four major parts:[3]
Harari's main argument is thatH. sapiens came to dominate the world because they are the only animal that cancooperate flexibly in large numbers. He argues that prehistoricH. sapiens were a key cause of the extinction of other human species such as theNeanderthals and numerous othermegafauna. He further argues that the ability ofH. sapiens to cooperate in large numbers arises from its unique capacity to believe in things existing purely in theimagination, such asgods,nations,money andhuman rights. He argues that these beliefs give rise to discrimination – whether racial, sexual or political – and it is potentially impossible to have a completely unbiased society. Harari claims that all large-scale human cooperation systems – includingreligions,political structures,trade networks andlegal institutions – owe their emergence toH. sapiens' distinctive cognitive capacity forfiction.[4] Accordingly, Harari describes money as a system ofmutual trust andpolitical andeconomic systems as similar to religions.
Harari's key claim regarding theAgricultural Revolution is that while it promoted population growth forH. sapiens and co-evolving species like wheat and cows, it made the lives of most individuals (and animals) worse than they had been whenH. sapiens were mostly hunter-gatherers, since their diet and daily lives became significantly less varied. Humans' violent treatment of other animals is a theme that runs throughout the book.
In discussing theunification of humankind, Harari argues that over its history, the trend forH. sapiens has increasingly been towards political and economic interdependence. For centuries, the majority of humans lived in empires, and capitalistglobalization is effectively producing one, global empire. Harari argues that money, empires, anduniversal religions are the principal drivers of this process.
Harari describes theScientific Revolution as an innovation in European thought, whereby elites became willing to admit to and try to remedy their ownignorance. He describes this as one driver of early modern European imperialism and of the current convergence of human cultures. Harari also claims there is a lack of research into the history ofhappiness, positing that people today are not significantly happier than in past eras.[5] He concludes by discussing how modern technology may soon end the species by ushering ingenetic engineering,immortality, andnon-organic life. Harari metaphorically describes humans asdeities in that they can create species.
Harari citesJared Diamond'sGuns, Germs, and Steel (1997) as one of the greatest inspirations for the book.[6]
First published in Hebrew in 2011, the book was later released in English in 2014 and has since been translated into 65 different languages.[7] It madeThe New York Times best-seller list, appearing for 182 weeks (as of May 2022) including 96 consecutive weeks.[8][9] It won theNational Library of China'sWenjin Book Award for the best book published in 2014.[10][11] Writing four years after its English-language publication,Alex Preston wrote inThe Guardian thatSapiens had become a "publishing phenomenon" with "wild success" symptomatic of a broader trend toward "intelligent, challenging nonfiction, often books that are several years old".[12] Concurrently,The Guardian listed the book as among the ten "best brainy books of the decade".[13] TheRoyal Society of Biologists in the UK shortlisted the book in its 2015 Book Awards.[14]Bill Gates rankedSapiens among his ten favorite books,[15] andMark Zuckerberg also recommended it.[16]Kirkus Reviews awarded a star to the book, noting that it is "the great debates of history aired out with satisfying vigor".[17] The British dailyThe Times also gave the book a rave review, quoting that "Sapiens is the kind of book that sweeps cobwebs out of your brain" and that it is "mind-thrilling".[18]The Sydney Morning Herald described the book as "always engaging and often provocative".[19]
In 2015 theIsrael Museum in Jerusalem created a special, temporary exhibit based on the book, using archeological and artistic displays to demonstrate the main themes found in the book. The exhibit ran from May until December 2015.[20]
Discussing the book's success in 2020, Ian Parker writing forThe New Yorker said "the book thrived in an environment of relative critical neglect" since it received few major reviews at the time of its release. Parker describesSapiens' extremely broad scope as being a defense against expert criticism. Quoting Harari's academic advisorSteven Gunn, "Nobody's an expert on the meaning of everything, or the history of everybody, over a long period."[21] In a 2022 article titled "The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari" forCurrent Affairs, neuroscientist Darshana Narayanan expanded onThe New Yorker's comments: "I tried my hand atfact-checking Sapiens ... I consulted colleagues in the neuroscience and evolutionary biology community and found that Harari's errors are numerous and substantial, and cannot be dismissed as nit-picking."[22]
AnthropologistChristopher Robert Hallpike reviewed the book and did not find any "serious contribution to knowledge". Hallpike suggested that "...whenever his facts are broadly correct they are not new, and whenever he tries to strike out on his own he often gets things wrong, sometimes seriously". He considered it aninfotainment publishing event offering a "wild intellectual ride across the landscape of history, dotted with sensational displays of speculation, and ending with blood-curdling predictions about human destiny."[23]
Science journalistCharles C. Mann concluded inThe Wall Street Journal, "There's a whiff of dorm-room bull sessions about the author's stimulating but often unsourced assertions."[24]
Reviewing the book inThe Washington Post, evolutionary anthropologistAvi Tuschman points out problems stemming from the contradiction between Harari's "freethinking scientific mind" and his "fuzzier worldview hobbled by political correctness", but nonetheless wrote that "Harari's book is important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens."[25]
Reviewing the book inThe Guardian, philosopherGalen Strawson concluded that, among several other problems, "Much ofSapiens is extremely interesting, and it is often well expressed. As one reads on, however, the attractive features of the book are overwhelmed by carelessness, exaggeration andsensationalism". He specifically mentions how the author ignores happiness studies, that his claims of the "opening of a gap between the tenets of liberal humanism and the latest findings of the life sciences" is silly and deplores that the author "transformsAdam Smith into the apostle of greed".[26]
The original Hebrew publication was first issued in 2011 asקיצור תולדות האנושות [Ḳitsur toldot ha-enoshut], which translates intoA Brief History of Humankind.
A 2012 English translation was self-published with the titleFrom Animals Into Gods. The English translation was published in 2015 asSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, "translated by the author with the help of John Purcell and Haim Watzman", simultaneously in London by Harvill SeckerISBN 978-1846558238 (hardback),ISBN 978-1846558245 (trade paperback)[27] and in Canada by Signal (ISBN 978-0-7710-3850-1 (bound),ISBN 978-0-7710-3852-5 (html)). It was then republished in London by Vintage Books in 2015 (ISBN 978-0099590088 (paperback)).
In 2020 the first volume of thegraphic novel version of the book was published simultaneously in several languages, with the titleSapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 1: The Birth of Humankind. It is credited as coauthored by Harari andDavid Vandermeulen, with adaptation and illustrations byDaniel Casanave. The second volumeSapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 2: The Pillars of Civilization was published in October 2021.
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