Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

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There are many theories on how humans have come into existence and one of such is the Replacement theory states that Sapiens have replaced species without merging them. This is similar to Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory and it’s convincing on how Sapiens have survived among all other human populations.

On the other hand, the interbreeding theory brings out the explanation for the existence of genetic differences which is quite evident in today’s human population.  

It is explained that sapiens have larger brains hence to adapt to evolving needs, one such activity is migration for better acclimatisation. During those days it was for food, climate and to survive but the trend of migration is passed on to today’s human population as well. People lately migrated to places offering better opportunities in terms of education, money, and jobs. 

All beings can communicate but quality communication is beyond just transmitting information and this ability is acquired only by humans. According to Gossip theory, people can talk about things that aren’t real and people can understand each other better. They have also inherited the ability to gossip for hours which animals cannot do. That’s why humans are considered better off than animals. 

For instance, we are now talking about AI and blockchain, and these things were once talked about and imagined by our ancestors and it has become possible. Driving into the future, it is not a false claim to say that more impossible things will come into existence because our ability to imagine is beyond any explanation. This has been possible due to the cognitive revolution. Since then there existed history.

The concept of alpha male leading is blended into the culture of today’s human population where the male leads the household and protects his family. Even today man is the head of the family in 90% of the families and they take the responsibility to provide for and protect their families. This is one case and another is the fact that men are seen as superior compared to women. Since this discrimination existed since the time of our ancestors today there are freedom fighters for equal women's rights and in some countries, even special privileges given to women just so that women can raise their voices and take up jobs like men. If we critically analyze, I feel it's the women who should be considered superior because they give birth if not for women the human species would not have exponentially procreated. 

Sapiens did not just forage for food and materials but for knowledge as well and the foraging of knowledge has become the epitome of survival tactics in today's world. Humans have slowly migrated and inhabited all parts of the world. Scholars also argue that mass extinction is due to human inhibition and the agricultural revolution although climate change is blamed for it. Even today many helpful and important animals are on the verge of extinction and many organizations have been formed to conserve and protect them.  

The author justifies that there is no evidence that humans became more intelligent with time rather they found nature’s secret. I would like to argue with this statement because, at the beginning of this book, the author mentioned how humans could communicate and imagine the impossible and this imagination ability only increased over time. Well, this is evident in all the new inventions made which were not even imagined once upon a time. Therefore, I feel humans are becoming intelligent over time and it is the changing demands that are forcing people to become intelligent. 

‘Agriculture revolution was history’s biggest fraud’ but I feel it is the highest achievement. If our ancestors continued foraging then all the animals and plants would have become extinct because the rate at which the human population increased is so many times more than those of plants and animals. Moreover, without the agricultural revolution civilization would have been impossible. Today one of the greatest challenges for farmers is human-wildlife conflict because humans continue disrupting the habitats of wild animals. Humans do so because the foraging nature of humans still seems to be in humans as a result they forage wild plants and animals and disrupt the food chain. This makes the wild animals come to the human community in search of food. At the same time, I agree with the author that the domestication of plants has made Sapiens the slaves of these domesticated plants. 

“Just as the economic success of a company is measured only by the number of dollars in its bank account, not by the happiness of its employees, so the evolutionary success of a species is measured by the number of copies of its DNA” This is the case around all the countries in the world except for Bhutan The growth of the country is measured by the happiness of the people and not by money. 

Sapiens could create fiction which contributed to better socialization and cooperation. To further enhance human cooperation, Hammurabi came up with principles inspired by divine power. This bold and creative move by Hammurabi instilled a sense of civilization in the Homo Sapiens. However, most of his principles seem unrealistic if compared with today’s generation such as creating hierarchy in the society and killing someone else as a form of punishment who isn’t even the real killer. Nevertheless, it is understandable that it was done for survival. 

Although there were a lot of evolutions to humankind most of it was lost due to the lack of proper documentation. It was only with the invention of language that documented history could be referred to. Numerical language proved to be even more powerful than alphabetical language. 

It is rather intriguing to learn the evolutionary history of one’s kind and to a certain extent to get the reasons for the way humans behave in certain ways. The once-imagined hierarchy has now become the unavoidable and the most corrupted social bureaucracy. For this, who is to be blamed and is there any secret or undiscovered method hidden by our ancestors? To find out more one should grab this book. It will take you both backward while also allowing you to think forward.