Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Book Review 

Title: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 

Genre: Science/History 

Rating: 4.25 Stars  

Sapiens was a very interesting and educational read for me, but it took turns that I didn’t expect given the title. From the title, I believed that this was going to be a scientific look into the development of humankind which it was in the beginning as we investigate how humans developed from single-celled organisms and how Neanderthals intermingled with Homo Sapiens. I agreed with the theory that at some point in our history both Sapiens and Neanderthals intermingled since there are people alive today that house a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA, however, the majority were either driven out of their communities or outright killed since no Neanderthals are alive today.

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I was expecting this section to encompass the entire book, but this wasn’t the case as most of the book looks at what makes us human and what it means in our modern age to be human and how things might change in the future. While the social aspect of humanity was interesting to get into, I was constantly hoping for a return to anthropology aspect that the book started off with. Through the many sections looking at how our communities and societies are able for function through our unique ability to communicate and adapt with each other, I found that there were elements that people will both agree and disagree with depending on their own individual perspective but it seems to like a scientific grounding like the opening sections.  

A few sections in the book also seemed to delve into a more political view which I wasn’t keen on since it is my view that politics has no place in the scientific space. Despite this, I do understand why the author included it since it really hammers home some points made throughout the book. One point that was made throughout that really made me think was the idea of shared delusions or the notion that a lot of our societies is made up of imaginary concepts or ideas that have no physical basis, but we adhere to because we all believe in the concept. This can sometimes be called the social contract, but the author really expands upon it. These delusions include things like our political systems, our legal systems and much more but without them we might descend into chaos since we are used to functioning with these structures in place despite how poorly some of them might work in the modern day.

However, overall, I did find the book provided a unique perspective on the development on Homo Sapiens as a species and how we could continue to change in the future. I will go on to read the follow up book at some point in the future, but I am holding out hope it returns to a more scientific perspective.  

Buy it here: 

Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk                                 amazon.com  

Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk                                 amazon.com