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SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND

THE STORY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT IS NEXT TO COME

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a book written by Israeli professor Yuval Noah Harari. Initially published in 2011, the book discusses human history in detail, beginning with humankind’s development from archaic species such as Neanderthals during the Stone Age and continuing right up to the technological developments of the 21 st century.

The book addresses the subject of evolutionary biology delicately, making it provocative enough to strike interest with academics but not complex enough to alienate the general public. It tackles subjects such as the development of the human brain, the extinction of other human species and the development of civilisation as we know it.

While the book has been heavily contested by some academics, it acts as an effective gateway to the general public to seek out more in-depth and intricate literature on the subject of evolution and anthropology.

KEY INFORMATION

Reference edition: Harari, Y. N. (2014) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. New York: Harper.

1st edition: 2011 (in Hebrew); 2014 (in English)

Author: Yuval Noah Harari (Israeli historian and professor, born in 1976)

Fields: history, human evolution

Key words:

Homo Sapiens : modern humans who first appeared 150 000 years ago. They are the only surviving human species.

Neanderthals : an extinct species of human that dominated Europe and Eurasia between 120 000 and 30 000 years ago. They differ from modern humans in the shape of their skull, which gives them a receding forehead.

Agricultural Revolution : the transition of human societies from hunter-gatherers to farmers. The transition involved a radical change in the landscape i.e. the creation of fields.

Cultural relativism : the theory stating that a person’s beliefs, customs and morality are dependant on the culture they originated from and not due to any other factors, such as genetics.

Megafauna : large mammals of a particular region, habitat or geological period. Examples of megafauna can be found in elephants and giraffes.

CONTEXT

THE AUTHOR

Yuval Noah Harari was born in Kiryat Ata, Israel on 24 February 1976. Raised in a secular Jewish family, Harari would later attend the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1993 to 1998, where he studied both medieval history and military history. He completed his PhD at Jesus College, Oxford in 2002.

In that same year, Harari met his husband and personal manager Itzik Yahav. The couple currently reside in a moshav (an Israeli agrarian community) near Jerusalem called Mesilat Zion.

Harari’s writings concern the topics of free will, consciousness and intelligence. He has published many books and articles, such as Special Operations in the Age of Chivalry, 1100–155 5; The Ultimate Experience: Battlefield Revelations and the Making of Modern War Culture, 1450–2000; The Concept of 'Decisive Battles' in World History; and Armchairs Coffee and Authority: Eye-witnesses and Flesh-witnesses Speak about War, 1100-2000.

He reached acclaim when he initially published Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind in 2011, which became a bestseller in Israel and was popular among academics and the general public alike. Harari has given many lectures on the subject of human history, some of which can be found online.

Since the publication of Sapiens, Harari has published two other books. In 2016 he published Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, which concerns the potential future of humanity with developing technologies. In 2018 Harari published 21 Rules for the 21 st Century, a collection of essays that discuss the technological, political and other serious issues that humankind faces in the future. Both books can be read as building upon the theories Harari set out in Sapiens.

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

Debate surrounding the ethics of genetic engineering and concern arising from technological innovation and the development of artificial intelligence played a key role in the inspiration of the book, since Harari closes it with his own concerns on both topics.

The book also takes issue with studies regarding human happiness, stating that the studies taken thus far have been superficial and are inadequate in nature. The author stresses the necessity of more in-depth research on the study of happiness so that we can better understand the subject matter and then act accordingly.

SUMMARY OF SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND

The book is divided into sections, totalling 20 chapters. Each section deals with a specific period in history.

PART ONE: THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION

Chapter One: An Animal of No Significance

There are six known human species to have existed on earth. All of them emerged from Africa, but some migrated to other regions and thus evolved to adjust to their environment. For example, Neanderthals populated Europe and evolved to have paler skin due to dietary changes. Modern humans, classified as Homo Sapiens, emerged from Africa around 150 000 years ago.

Sapiens migrated across the world and lived side by side with other human species, but these species would later die out, and as of 13 000 years ago Homo Sapiens are the only remaining humans on earth. There are two theories regarding how these other species died out, the first being that interbreeding between species caused a diminished population for Neanderthals and other species as Sapiens were the result. The other is that Sapiens achieved their sole status as humans by their dominance over others, which can mean anything from being better hunters to committing genocide.

Harari suggests that Sapiens were able to effectively spread out and conquer the earth because of their superior social skills and the development of language, which was also superior to rival species.

Chapter Two: The Tree of Knowledge

70 000 years ago, modern humans experienced the development of behavioural modernity, which Harari has labelled the “cognitive revolution”. This revolution could be achieved through the development of language.

Harari explains that there are two main components of language in Sapiens that differ from other animals. The first is the ability to communicate with one another via signals to hunt more efficiently or to call for aid in an emergency. Better communication also allowed them to socialise with one another and even comprehend gossip.

The second is the ability to communicate understanding of things that do not materially exist, such as governments and institutions. This ability allows Sapiens to communicate with strangers and to adjust social behaviour very quickly. This ability is absent in all other animals apart from modern humans.

Chapter Three: A Day in the Life of Adam and Eve

Through the examination of their lives, Harari argues that the lifestyles of early foragers can be considered “the original affluent societies” (p. 65), meaning their quality of life was surprisingly high.

He argues this by claiming that the foragers’ diet was both healthier and more varied than that of later farmers, as they collected these resources from their local area. Because of this, their working hours were significantly shorter than those of early farmers, as they only needed to gather the required resources for their tribe while farmers needed to constantly cultivate their produce. This free time allowed for more engagement in social activity.

They were also less likely to become sick as they settled permanently in one area and would have adapted to the pathogens they were exposed to there. The same could not be said for later peoples who travelled extensively for trade in towns and cities.

However, Harari clarifies that we should not romanticise this lifestyle, as these living conditions were very gruelling. Members of these societies had to be extremely violent to ensure survival and had to kill weaker or sickly members of their tribe to ensure that they remained strong. Harari closes the chapter by suggesting we need more research on these kinds of societies, as we currently know very little about them.

Chapter Four: The Flood

The development of cognitive abilities allowed Sapiens to develop the skills necessary for sea travel. Because of this, modern humans were able to travel and later populate Australia 45 000 years ago.

Harari discusses the mass extinction of megafauna in this region. There is evidence that humans’ arrival in the region played a significant role in their extinction. Unlike animals in Africa and Asia, animals in Australia did not evolve to consider Sapiens a threat. Because of this, their interactions with humans lead to their species possessing a higher death rate than birth rate, which affected megafauna more harshly since their pregnancies took far longer.

Harari posits two great influences in this extinction. The first is Sapiens’ cultivation of fire agriculture, which greatly changed the ecology that megafauna had adapted to survive in. The second is the influence of climate change, but Harari suggests more research is needed to clarify whether this was significant.

PART TWO: THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

Chapter Five: History’s Biggest Fraud

Harari argues that the first Agricultural Revolution was one of the gravest mistakes that Sapiens committed because their quality of life quickly diminished in comparison to early foragers.

For starters, their dependence on wheat farming was uneconomical and meant that their diet lacked variety, which in turn meant that they often suffered from malnutrition. This lifestyle was not only unhealthier but also more violent than that of foragers, since having farmland meant that they were more at risk of attack.

Harari argues that the main reason Sapiens transitioned from foragers to farmers was because the latter lifestyle allowed them to reproduce more and sustain larger populations, despite the harsh realities they may face.

Chapter Six: Building Pyramids

Because of the higher risk of harm in their lifestyles, farmers’ communities developed a framework of law and order that protected their inhabitants. Because of Sapiens’ ability to comprehend subjects that do not materially exist, they can create a social infrastructure.

An imagined order functions as it is either connected to the physical world or the physical world allows it to exist; for example, a person can be deemed to be a police officer and thus granted certain powers. These kinds of beliefs would be shared among Sapiens and would drive individual desires and influence actions.

Harari ends the chapter by stating that even if someone wanted to leave this order in hopes of finding freedom and independence, they could not. Instead they would be greeted by another order. Regarding how modern humans live, there is no way of living an order-free life.

Chapter Seven: Memory Overload

The development of social order and the acquisition of knowledge led to a need for a means to store this information in order to pass it on to later generations. Older methods of passing down information were flawed in that Sapiens had limited memories and limited lifespans, meaning that their knowledge would be lost after death. Sapiens had evolved to be good at storing information regarding their lives as foragers (for example, what plants not to eat or the best hunting grounds); however, they were not adept at storing information with numbers, which would be necessary in a social order.

To combat these issues, Sapiens developed two solutions. The first was the establishment of mathematics, which in turn could be used to communicate needs and demands. The second was of course the development of written language, which would allow more efficient storage of information.

Chapter Eight: There is No Justice in History

The development of social order allowed the development of hierarchies, which would classify groups of people based on race, economic class and gender. These hierarchies served to alienate peoples from one another, since those in the higher class believed that exposure to lower classes would pollute them, while the lower classes held the higher classes in esteem. Thus, their interactions were limited to bare necessity.

Harari notes that while these hierarchies are unfair and should be removed, it is immensely difficult to do so. This is because even after the initial creators of the hierarchy have left or died out, the conquered population still upholds this order. Even when a region attempts to uproot and correct the wrongdoings of this system, the population that has been raised in this hierarchy may still hold these established prejudices against others.

PART THREE: THE UNIFICATION OF HUMANKIND

Chapter Nine: The Arrow of History

Harari argues that culture is not a static force, but rather one that is in constant flux and therefore dynamic in nature. Because every culture is influenced by others due to their interactions with one another via trade, marriage and the eventual sharing of myths and customs. Due to this, there is nothing either authentic or original. The world used to be divided into four distinct worlds, but now because of exploration and globalisation they have converged into a global empire.

There are three reasons why co-operation and domination on a large scale are the norm. The first is the concept of money, which in turn grants social power. The is being the idea of a nation state that entails a need to spread and assert dominance. The third is religious beliefs that require their followers to indoctrinate the uninitiated into their religion. This trait is most common in Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, as they are the largest religions to date.

Chapter Ten: The Scent of Money

Harari notes that before the invention of money, people traded via barter economy, meaning that they traded goods such as fur for another good such as food or weapons. The monetary system is superior because it avoids any problem with conversion, since it allows people to convert anything to and from money.

It also will not depreciate, as money is a concept and not a material item such as food or clothes, which can erode over time. People can in turn use this money to store wealth, and it can be more easily transported.

Money works because of an established trust between peoples in the value of the concept. This trust is maintained because higher powers, such as a state, recognises it to pay for taxes. Trade among nations requires an established currency, such as gold. In the modern world this currency is the American dollar. It possesses value because we have agreed that it does.

Chapter Eleven: Imperial Visions

Harari argues that the overall trend in human history is the eventual unification of larger and smaller societies in the form of empire. He goes on to define empire as a political order ruling over a large and diverse populace, meaning that the number of people is not necessarily as important as their ethnic and cultural diversity.

An empire’s borders are flexible and it requires constant growth and accumulation of land. Building this order requires the slaughter and possible genocide of large populations and the exploitation of subjects such as religion to justify their efforts, all the while claiming that they are being just to their subjects.

While Harari notes the cruelties of empire, he points out that it is difficult to completely uproot the culture that spawned it since it often created a great deal of good as well as bad things. As expressed in Chapter Eight, even if we were to attempt to right the wrongs of this social order, the damage done to the subjects is immensely difficult to undo.

Chapter Twelve: The Law of Religion

Religion is defined as a system of norms and values established by the order of a superhuman authority, typically a God.

Harari breaks down religions into four different categories: animism, the belief the belief that objects, places and animals possess a spiritual sensibility; polytheism, the belief in multiple Gods; monotheism, the belief in a singular God; and humanism, which is more of an ethical and philosophical position than a belief in a higher power.

The three largest religions are either monotheistic (Christianity and Islam) or humanistic (Buddhism). In monotheism, the superhuman – God – is impartial and has no interest in advancing interests of the followers.

In humanism, the superhuman is one with humanity in the pursuit of good. Harari notes three different types of humanism. The first is liberal humanism, which worships individualism by protecting the inner core and freedom of individuals. The second, which he calls socialist humanism, worships humanity as a collective by protecting equality, and the third is evolutionary humanism, which worships the ideas of “weeding out the bad apples” and of advancing humans by protecting mankind from degeneration and encouraging evolution.

Chapter Thirteen: The Secret of Success

The study of history is not deterministic because history consists of a series of chaotic events that react to predictions. The study of history is biased because we are granted hindsight, while we possess little information to predict the future. Harari notes that historians can answer how we reached where we are but struggle to answer why.

People may think that it is a simple question to answer, but it is in fact very difficult to overcome the hindsight fallacy. The answer to a “why” question requires us to also explain why history did not go other possible ways when it could have, given the circumstances. A "how" question only demands us to describe events leading up to the result.

While it may be true that human history is moving in the right direction, Harari argues that there is no evidence to suggest that the quality of human life is improving. He elaborates on these concerns of happiness in Chapter Nineteen.

PART FOUR: THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Chapter Fourteen: The Discovery of Ignorance

The development of modern science changed everything. This method differed from traditional knowledge because it allows an acknowledgement of ignorance that traditional knowledge could not. It connects observations using mathematics to create comprehensive theories, which is superior to the approach of traditional knowledge, and it incentivises the acquisition of new powers which in turn will spawn technological innovation and broaden knowledge to improve both the economy and standard of living.

Chapter Fifteen: The Marriage of Science and Empire

Through the example of Captain James Cook discovering Australia, Harari argues that the reason the British and other European empires had better means of acquiring new land was because their infrastructure accepted modern science. This in turn allowed them to recognise on their maps unexplored areas that may have new land.

Other empires, such as the Ottomans, were less successful because they did not have the infrastructure necessary to compete. The knowledge they pursued helped improve people’s livelihoods, but it also hurt a lot of people. Harari explained this back in Chapter Eleven.

Chapter Sixteen: The Capitalist Greed

Harari notes that since the advent of the modern age, human capital has expanded immensely. This is due to innovation resulting from the merger of modern science and capitalism, which became the tool required to achieve growth. The constant expansion of empire also aided in this acquisition of wealth.

While capitalism increases the wealth of a nation, Harari makes sure to note that because of existing hierarchies and greed, it can also create a severe system of inequality and poverty.

Chapter Seventeen: The Wheels of Industry

While our energy consumption has increased, so too has our ability to exploit the necessary raw materials. Harari notes that new technologies give us better access to energy in two ways. The first is the ability to exploit resources more efficiently by turning one form of energy into another. For example, the steam engine allows us to convert energy without human or animal labour. The second is the discovery of new materials that we can exploit, such as renewable energy sources like solar power. These cheap and widely available materials help the economy. But many things which contribute to this increased production are treated in cruel ways. Harari uses the production of meat and dairy, which greatly harms livestock, as examples.

Chapter Eighteen: A Permanent Revolution

Because of industrialisation, the way of life of many humans has undergone permanent upheaval. Since the Industrial Revolution, people’s lives are more synchronised because of timetables imposed by workplaces. Social networks have changed from mainly focussing on families and small communities to encompass the market and the state.

Harari argues that the world as it stands today is significantly less violent than it once was. This is due to the price of war being too high, which incentivises peace.

Chapter Nineteen: And They Lived Happily Ever After

Harari notes the need for more in-depth research on happiness and modernity because the current findings are far too subjective. While wealth and a sense of community help ensure happiness, they are transient, and after they have passed people will feel deprived.

Harari notes that happiness is influenced by people’s biochemistry but is also determined by an individual’s sense of meaning. He ends by suggesting that instead of altering our biochemistry via medication, we should follow the teaching of Buddhism to accept both pleasure and suffering when they come and to crave neither.

Chapter Twenty: The End of Homo Sapiens

Harari warns of the dangers we may face in the near future with regard to AI, cybernetics and genetic engineering. He notes fears about the new role humans would play in creating new life, essentially becoming Gods of their own. These new species may be superior to us in terms of cognitive and physical abilities, but may lack our established emotions such as empathy.

Harari believes that there is great risk involved in these new feats to essentially upgrade the human species and that we should approach them with great caution.

IMPACT OF SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND

RECEPTION

The book has been received positively by the public. Harari’s ability to break down complicated scientific information and summarise historical events for easy understanding makes the book more appealing to wider audiences. Academics, on the other hand, have been mixed in their reviews of his work, with some even going so far as to imply that his claims have no evidence to back them up.

As of 2017, the book has been published in around 45 different languages. On its release in English, it won the National Library of China’s Wenjin Book Award for the best book to be published in 2014 and made its way onto the New York Times Best Sellers List. In 2018, The Guardian listed Sapiens among the ten “best brainy books of the decade”.

Bill Gates listed Sapiens in his top ten favourite books of all time. Harari himself received the Polonsky Award for Creativity and Originality in the Humanistic Disciplines for 2012.

CRITICISMS OF HARARI’S APPROACH

Many academics take issue with Harari’s assertions in the book. Anthropologist Christopher Robert Hallpike objects to Harari’s claim that due to the Cognitive Revolution, you could sit down with a human from 30 000 years ago and explain the complexities of modern life as they essentially have the same learning capabilities as humans from the 21 st century. Hallpike takes issue with this assertion because humans from 30 000 years ago had not yet experienced the Agricultural Revolution and thus had not developed the required skills for education, which must be established at a very young age. Hallpike gives the example of a tribe in Papua New Guinea whom he lived with for his studies. They are a hunter-gatherer community that does not have any comprehension of time outside the concept of a day. To explain the complexities of modern life to them would be impossible. This example demonstrates that Harari’s book does not consider the field of developmental psychology, which obviously limits his discussion on human development.

The evolutionary anthropologist Avi Tuschman criticises Harari’s book regarding inconsistencies in his thought patterns. Harari is a proponent of cultural relativism, but he contradicts himself by saying that human behaviour is determined by genes and biological influences. An example Harari gives to support cultural relativism is that social hierarchies and moral emotions, such as the concept of fairness, exist only in the human imagination and have no basis in nature. Tuschman retorts by citing primatological research which shows that apes have an understanding of rank and possess altruistic behaviour that is similar to our own. The main critiques of Harari’s work are therefore his ignorance of certain fields of study vital to his topic and inconsistencies in his own propositions.

LEGACY

Since its English publication in 2014, the book has been widely read and reviewed. However, it is too soon to say if the work has had any significant impact on the field of world history. However, given the reaction of many academics specialising in anthropology, a field critical for the study of human development, it does not seem likely that it will have any real influence on this field. As Christopher Robert Hallpike wrote, “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” (2017).

If the intention of the author was to offer ground-breaking research and bold new theories that would entice academia, then he has failed. However, if his intentions were to create a book that was comprehensive yet easy and fun to read, then he has succeeded. If his intentions were simply to educate the general public and act as a gateway to those who may be interested in pursuing or learning more about these topics, then the book is a success and has proved very influential.

SUMMARY

The book details the development of modern humans who emerged from East Africa around 150 000 years ago. They lived alongside other human species such as Neanderthals and Denisovans for thousands of years.

Homo Sapiens are the only remaining human species. There are two main theories as to why this is the case. The first is because of interbreeding between species, meaning that peoples such as the Neanderthals were bred out of existence. The second is that these species died out because of disease, changing climate, inability to compete with Homo Sapiens’ superior hunting strategies or genocide perpetrated by Homo Sapiens.

Harari argues that the lifestyles of early foragers were superior to those of early farmers because their diet was healthier and they had more free time. They were also at less risk of violence.

Humans were able to develop sea travelling skills and populate regions such as Australia. However, their arrival quickly brought about the extinction of megafauna.

The Agricultural Revolution allowed the development of written text, the establishment of law and order, the creation of social hierarchies, the establishment of the nation state and the expansion of empire. The establishment of religion helped to develop cultures by establishing a system of norms and values that the followers would adhere to.

The emergence of modern science aided in the expansion of empire and capitalism. Innovation helped bring about the Industrial Revolution and forever changed human life.

Harari calls for more research on the study of happiness. He goes on to suggest that more people should pursue Buddhism as it was a helpful outlet to him and gave great meaning to his life.

Harari closes the book by raising concerns over AI and genetic engineering, declaring that we may create a new species that will wipe us out. We should therefore avoid playing God.

FURTHER READING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Harari, Y. N. (2014) Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. New York: Harper.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2012) Dr. Yuval Harari Among Winners of Polonsky Prize for 2012. [Online]. [Accessed 12 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.efhu.org/index.php/news/awards/127-dr-yuval-harari-among-winners-of-polonsky-prize-for-2012 >

Harari, Y. N. (2014) Were we happier in the stone age? The Guardian. [Online]. [Accessed 12 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/05/were-we-happier-in-the-stone-age >

Hallpike, C. R. (2017) A Response to Yuval Harari’s ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’. New English Review. [Online]. [Accessed 12 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?frm=189085&sec_id=189085 >

The Guardian (2018) Best ‘brainy’ books of this decade. [Online]. [Accessed 12 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/29/10-best-brainy-books-last-decade >

Gates, B. (2016) My 10 Favorite Books: Bill Gates. The New York Times. [Online]. [Accessed 12 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/t-magazine/my-10-favorite-books-bill-gates.html >

ADDITIONAL SOURCES

Mr,Todd (2017) Yuval Harari – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. [Video online]. [Accessed 13 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgeyUd_piiU >

USI Events (2016) How Sapiens Conquered the World – Yuval Harari, at USI. [Video online]. [Accessed 13 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5_W2ecr0r4 >

TEDGlobalLondon (2015) Yuval Harari; What Explains the Rise of Humans? [Video online]. [Accessed 13 February 2019]. Available from: < https://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_what_explains_the_rise_of_humans?language=en >