Brief History of Intelligence
by Max Bennett · first published 2024
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible popular science tracing the evolution of brains through five breakthroughs, from simple nervous systems to human intelligence. It is readable and useful for thinking about AI and how brains work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2024–2026The maniac
Benjamín Labatut
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 117 recommend · 11 mention7 recommend · 117 recommend
2017–2026Nabokov's Pale fire
Brian Boyd
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 134 recommend · 13 mention4 recommend · 134 recommend
2013–2025Jack Reacher
Lee Child
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 2713 recommend · 27 mention13 recommend · 2713 recommend
2021–2026Piranesi
Susanna Clarke
Recommended by 44 · mentioned by 5544 recommend · 55 mention44 recommend · 5544 recommend
Murderbot Diaries
Martha Wells
Recommended by 42 · mentioned by 5042 recommend · 50 mention42 recommend · 5042 recommend
2012–2026Why Nations Fail
Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
Recommended by 74 · mentioned by 11774 recommend · 117 mention74 recommend · 11774 recommend
2021–2026Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir
Recommended by 131 · mentioned by 221131 recommend · 221 mention131 recommend · 221131 recommend
2009–2026Daemon
Daniel Suarez
Recommended by 118 · mentioned by 175118 recommend · 175 mention118 recommend · 175118 recommend
In terms of books, I read way less than usual this year for $REASONS. But of the books I did read, one stood out: A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains by Max Solomon Bennett. If you're interested in intelligence and related topics, it's definitely worth a read.
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2024?” ↗You're welcome. If you are interested in more background on biological brains, c.elegans is really just "the very first breakthrough" (in the phraseology of Max Bennett's A Brief History Of Intelligence -- a recent, worthwhile popular science book).
on “C. Elegans: The worm that no computer scientist can crack” ↗You might enjoy chapter 3, 'Origin of Emotion' of a book entitled 'A Brief History of Intelligence' by Max Bennett. Although you need to read the two chapters leading up to it, realistically.
on “What is intelligence? (2024)” ↗Complications and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Made me appreciate modern medicine more. One other l book that shifted my thinking completely about AI and how far we are from AGI: A Brief History Of Intelligence by Max Bennett. Evolution is a heck of an algorithm
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗A brief history of intelligence by Max Bennett..I like it so far, I've learned a lot about the brain
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗…humans learn pretty effectively. I suspect LLM training runs are substantially more volatile (as well as suffering from the obvious data efficiency issues). If you'd like an unsolicited recommendation, 'A Brief History of Intelligence' by Max Bennett is a good, accessible book on this topic. It explicitly draws parallels between the brain's evolution and modern AI.
on “NanoGPT Slowrun: 10x Data Efficiency with Infinite Compute” ↗Yeah, I learnt about this from the amazing Max Bennett book: A brief history of intelligence.
on “Why do AI company logos look like buttholes?” ↗If you enjoy this topic I also highly recommend "A Brief History of Intelligence" which goes into quite a bit of detail, is very readable, and ties in directly to the near term future of what intelligence will mean in our world. Really a very good book!
on “What is intelligent life? Portia Spiders and GPT” ↗…Daniel Suarez: I can’t believe I slept on this book for so long. It would have altered my worldview fundamentally if I had read it at a younger age. Mind Hunter: Somehow even better than the show. A Brief History of Intelligence: Packed with so much knowledge about the evolution, mechanics, and different forms of intelligence. One of the best non-fiction books I have read in a long time.
on “Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?” ↗Of all the recent books I've read about AI, this was by far the worst. The Singularity is Nearer, Life 3.0, and A Brief History of Intelligence were much much much better imho
on “My Favorite Book on AI” ↗…too. As I understand it, it's a reward signal that becomes an "expected reward in future" signal with some learning. Been reading an interesting book that touches on this, AI and evolution called A Brief History of Intelligence.
on “Flies neglect food and endure shocks to seek a dopamine reward” ↗…sensory input a seed going on, like the brain circuitry that goes and re-imagines the input consciously going haywire and growing and extrapolating into overdriven, bizarre directions. I recently read "A Brief History of Intelligence" by Bennet which spends quite a bit of time dwelling on "generative" simulation mechanisms in brain function and their role in cognition from prediction to mentalizing, and I think I can get a rough sense…
on “What Hallucinogens Will Make You See (2023)” ↗