Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari · first published 2011
53% recommend39% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Big-picture history of humankind in plain, engaging language. Praised for thought-provoking themes like shared fictions, money, and the agricultural revolution; suits curious laypeople.
Common criticism: Some find it fluffy and oversimplified, leaning too hard on the shared-fictions idea
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.” One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this hig
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…storyline. At the minimum, you will learn to hope which is a big takeaway from this novel. If you are on the fence reading this, just go for it. Other books which I find interesting - The Slight Edge - Sapiens - The Master and Margarita (apart from the fact it is a great novel, this is so wickedly funny )
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗Actually historically, we foraged and hunted. After reading Sapiens I’m convinced that farming actually set humans on the path towards this very suffering. Large scale war, famine and pretty much every post agrarian revolution ill, is a direct consequence of having food…
on “Doctors warn of alarming C-section 'epidemic'” ↗I read Sapiens by Yuval Harari this year. It was long and fascinating, incredibly well researched, and easy enough for "light reading" that I had time for between writing research papers. A couple things that stuck…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Mostly the bits about how our society is mostly built on collective fictions. 2. Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse I remember being very moved reading this, but I can't quite…
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari. Hands down the book that most influenced me. The book had (for me) not one but several simple-yet-profound ideas that were forever inserted into the…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…people, I think I’ve seen more intelligent forms of life swimming in the milk in my breakfast cereal. I read half of The Compound Effect — one of the books in this list. It was trash. I’ve also read Sapiens from this list, and I certainly would characterise it as mind expanding. Even from these two titles alone, I’d say the quality in the selection is far too variable. I think reviews are near enough useless…
on “Mind-expanding books” ↗…Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life 14. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World 15. Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity 16. Sapiens 17. The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon 18. If you like space: Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery 19. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike 20. Quiet: The Power…
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗Anyone fascinated by this article, I highly suggest reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. I just recently picked it up after seeing it recommended on a couple of threads here and it did not disappoint. Humans have been affecting ecology for a long long time. If you are…
on “Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but changed Earth's climate: study” ↗…Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) * Masters of DOOM (David Kushner) * The simpsons and their mathematical secrets (Simon Singh) * Countdown to zero day (about stuxnet, by Kim Zetter) * Sapiens: A brief history of human kind (Yuval Noah Harari) * Coders at work (Some interviews, not all, but I enjoyed it. By Peter Seibel)
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗Unprecedented levels of stimulus around the whole world. If that isn't the precursor for some airpockets/bubbles of mispricing to emerge.. I don't know what is. I was reading Sapiens by Yuval Harari today and he had an explanation of easy credit that i liked. You are basically betting that enough innovation and progress happens to underpin the money you've "borrowed" from the future…
on “Economist Mohamed El-Erian warns about the risk of 'zombie markets'” ↗…Crossing the Chasm - The Richest Man in Babylon - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - Europe: A History - The Penguin History of Europe - The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Every of the books was awesome. The only thing is that I haven't finished Europe: A History from Norman and read The Penguin History of Europe instead because the Norman…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗To anyone interested about the history of human evolution, I highly recommend Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari. It's the best book I have read about human history and how we have evolved until now. The book is also listed on the Gates Summer reading list.
on “A Conversation: Yuval Noah Harari, Daniel Kahneman (2015)” ↗…Ritholtz (contributor) > Janesville Amy Goldstein > The Man Who Could Be King John Miller > My Own Liberator Dikgang Moseneke > Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance > Small Great Things Jodi Picoult > Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari > Born to Run Bruce Springsteen > The Content Trap Bharat Anand > The Gene: An Intimate History Siddhartha Mukherjee > Shoe Dog Phil Knight > Attitude:…
on “Annual survey of book recommendations” ↗If you haven't read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, you'd probably dig it. He makes a very good case that storytelling is a cornerstone of the evolution of society as we know it.
on “Why is history always about humans?” ↗…Americans in Paris by David McCullough * Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City by Neal Bascomb * Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us by Sam Kean * Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari * A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin * The Actor’s Life: A survival guide by Jenna Fischer * The Interstellar…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗