Sapiens

Yuval Noah Harari’s 400-page history of mankind is a timely meditation on the nature of Homo sapiens’ fickle path: a history not made by great leaders, determinism, guns, germs or steel, but by unexpected nuances of existence. Harari concludes that Homo sapiens prevailed by happenstance, a capacity for language and socialization, curiosity, mercantile fervor and technological prowess – which may yet destroy everything. Harari’s perspective moves among the telescope, microscope and stethoscope, hailing the synchronicities of capitalism, religion and technology. He tracks happiness as a measuring stick of progress. Harari is uneasy about humanity as the intelligent designer of a new “superhuman” – a cyborgian, a machine whose inorganic longings may not include happiness. While always neutral on matters of personal belief,getAbstract recommends this roiling, off-the-beaten path tour de force to readers with patience and open minds, even those who might disagree along the way.

In this summary, you will learn

• How each iteration of humankind’s development depended on an ever-changing system of abilities, myths and technological breakthroughs
• How Homo sapiens, the product of evolution, became the “intelligent designer” of its descendants and of happiness