Humankind
by Rutger Bregman · first published 2019
73% recommend24% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Optimistic, evidence-based case that people are decent by nature, debunking the Stanford prison experiment and Lord of the Flies myths; suits readers feeling cynical about human behavior.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Der Historiker Rutger Bregman setzt sich in seinem Buch mit dem Wesen des Menschen auseinander. Anders als in der westlichen Denktradition angenommen ist der Mensch nicht böse, sondern, so Bregman, im Gegenteil: von Grund auf gut. Und geht man von dieser Prämisse aus, ist es möglich, die Welt und den Menschen in ihr komplett neu und grundoptimistisch zu denken. In seinem mitreißend geschriebenen, überzeugenden Buch präsentiert Bregman Ideen für die Verbesserung der Welt. Sie sind innovativ und mutig und stimmen vor allem hoffnungsfroh.
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…a lot. Lord of the Flies came out of the fantasy of an English superintendent. Yet, it has permeated our culture as a cautionary tale about human behavior. It is 100% fiction. I’d like to recommend Humankind by Rutger Bregman - a wonderful book dismantling the toxic narratives we have about ourselves.
on “When six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months (2020)” ↗I haven't even finished it yet, but my favorite book of 2021 is certain to be Rutger Bregman's Humankind. If you are feeling cynical about your species thanks to climate change, COVID, etc. it may be exactly what you need.
on “Books I loved reading this year” ↗This story is examined nicely in Rutger Bregman's book Humankind: A Hopeful History. TL:DR; It turns out that in the real world, nothing like the Lord of the Flies happened; in fact the opposite happened. Highly recommend Bregman's book, by the way, which shoots…
on “When six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months (2020)” ↗> Humans are not peaceful by nature I also believed this until recently when I finished reading "Humankind: A Hopeful History" by Rutger Bregman. What an amazing book ... Bregman analyzes why we commonly believe that humans are not peaceful and that this assumption turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. But…
on “George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf” ↗Fascinating, and also troubling (Leviathan...that makes too much sense). A counter point to that is the intriguing and optimistic Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman [0] that I am finishing now. It certainly has it faults, especially as a scientist taking a critical view of some of the research, but the overall message of humans…
on “The Most Popular College Books” ↗Happy to see that community here mainly considers Hobbes to be "a villain". I'd like to point to the very enjoyable book by Rutger Bregman - Humankind[0]. In it, the writer discusses the differences between two important philosophers - Hobbes on one side and Rousseau on the other. First one has a general idea that "people are bad and need to be contained",…
on “Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan shaped modern politics” ↗I haven't read the English translation, but Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman had a profound influence on my trust in people, and expecting good intentions by default. Especially during bad times (COVID, geopolitics, etc.) it was a source of…
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗For anyone interested, Humankind by Rutger Bregman goes into this very topic (among others). It is a nice book and recognizes the nuance while suggesting improvements, mainly by looking at other countries and systems.
on “Free prison phone calls boost family ties, rehabilitation” ↗This is well-documented in Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. It's worth a read, as it also dispels other experiments in human behaviour that have subsequently been difficult to replicate (for a variety of reasons). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52879286-humankind
on “Audio tapes reveal mass rule-breaking in Milgram's obedience experiments” ↗Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. Absolutely fascinating and refreshingly positive.
on “Ask HN: Please suggest some good books you have read recently” ↗The popular-audience book Humankind by Rutger Bregman goes into the history of some of these classic experiments. In particular I was pretty shocked at how badly run the Stanford prison experiment was, and how lackluster and different…
on “1960s Mouse Utopias Led to Grim Predictions for Future of Humanity (2015)” ↗"Burn: The Misunderstood Science of Metabolism" by Herman Pontzer "Humankind" by Rutger Bregman "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow "Work: A history of how we spend our time" by James Suzman I sort of want to include "The Ministry of the Future" by Kim…
on “Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2021?” ↗Humankind by Rutger Bregman. It shows an optimistic view of the world through history, he mentions with facts why we trust, why this was/is our most valuable asset to survive and why the biggest advantage of humanity…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…to steal by building a social infrastructure that helps struggling people. The case for this is nicely details in "Human Kind" by Rutger Bregman [0]. [0]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52879286-humankind
on “Train burglaries in LA” ↗Maybe read Humankind by Rutger Bregman? There are either ways than the super harsh, sometimes commercial US prison system. There are also “crimes” that really shouldn’t be crimes.
on “Free prison phone calls boost family ties, rehabilitation” ↗