Deep Dive Books
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
- All right, ready to dive in. We're tackling Yuval Noah Harari's Opions today. - Yeah, we've got some really thought-provoking excerpts from the 2014 edition. This book, it takes you on a wild ride, that's for sure. It really makes you think about like the whole scope of human history, you know? - Absolutely, it's not just your typical history book. Harari goes way back further than you'd think. He doesn't start with like the Romans or ancient Egypt. He goes way back to when, well, Homo sapiens, us, we weren't exactly the high achievers, you know? - All right, he really drives on this point that for the vast majority of our existence, we were basically just there. Like we weren't building pyramids or writing symphonies. We were just trying to survive. - Yeah, I love how he paints this picture of our ancestors, like the underdogs of the savanna, right? I mean, we like to think of ourselves as the masters of the planet, but for a long, long time, we were just another animal trying not to get eaten by a lion. - Totally, and he makes this really interesting point about like different species versus breeds and how that relates to us. He talks about horses and donkeys, how they can't have babies that can then have their own babies, you know, they're, what's it called? They're bloodlines, they stay separate. - Okay, different species, different breeds, I get that. But how does that connect humans? - So he's suggesting that way back when there were other human species like Neanderthals or Denisovans, and we probably maybe interacted with them a lot more intimately than we'd like to think. Like maybe for a while we were more like those dog breeds, able to mix it up a bit, genetically speaking. - Whoa, I never thought about it that way. So it wasn't always just homo sapiens strutting around. - Right, but then boom, something big happens, this major turning point. Hurry calls it the cognitive revolution. It's like our ancestors' brains got a major upgrade and suddenly everything changed. - Okay, so what was different? Did we sprout new brain cells overnight? Start chugging protein shakes, caveman style? - Well, Hurry argues it wasn't so much a physical change as it was about how our brains were wired. He compares us to chimps, and it's a good example, right? Like chimps can't exactly have a philosophical debate with you, but they could literally rip you limb from limb. Us, we gambled big time in evolutionary terms. We started diverting energy from our muscles to our brains. - Talk about a high-risk, high-reward strategy. So while the chimps are out there hitting the prehistoric gym, we're working on our brain power. But then, Hurry, he throws in this curve ball. He brings up cooking. He's saying it played a role in our big brains. - That's wild, right? - But it makes sense when you think about it. Cooking, it makes food easier to digest, which means our bodies can get more calories with less effort. Hurry says this freed up a ton of energy, and our brains, those energy hogs, they were first in line to benefit. He even points out how our digestive systems, they're actually shorter than other apes. It's like evolution said, we're outsourcing the chewing, folks. Let's put those resources to work elsewhere. - Wow, so cooking wasn't just about making things taste better. It was like this accidental brain-boosting hack. It really makes you look at your microwave a little differently, doesn't it? Okay, but having big brains by themselves, that doesn't make you king of the castle, right? So what did our ancestors do with all that extra brain power? This is where Hurry's book takes this really fascinating turn. It gets really mind-blowingly cool. He says what really sets us apart, what really allowed us to dominate the planet is our unique ability to believe in. Well, fiction. - And not just believing in it individually, but collectively buying into these stories, agreeing on them, these shared stories, Hurry calls them, imagine realities. - Imagine realities, huh? - Yeah, like think about it, nations, corporations, even money, they don't exist in the physical world in the same way a tree or a mountain does. - Okay, yeah, that's true. - But they hold immense power. Because we've all decided collectively to act as if they do. - Okay, so you're saying, the reason societies work, the reason I can walk into a store and buy a coffee using this little plastic card, it's because we're all telling ourselves the same story about what it means, about what value it has. - Exactly, Hurry uses this great example of the Puzhou company. He says, think about it, what is Puzhou? It's not a tangible thing. It's not any single card they make. It's not their factory. It's not even their CEO. - Right, right. - It's this idea, this story, we've collectively built up around it. And because we all agreed to play by those rules to believe that story, well, it gains power in the real world. - That is pretty wild when you think about it like that. It's like, even laws, right? Laws aren't forces of nature. We just, well, we made them up. - Precisely. And to really drive this point home, Hurry, he compares lawyers to get this sorcerers. - Okay. - He says, lawyers, with their rituals and their fancy legal documents, they're kind of like shamans creating something from nothing. - Interesting analogy. - Like a contract, right. It's just words on a piece of paper, but those words can bind people together, just as much as any ancient spell or ritual. - So my lawyer is a legal wizard, is that what you're saying? I guess that explains the fees. But no, seriously, this is making me think about things in a whole new way. So our whole social order, everything we take for granted, it's built on these shared fictions, these imagined realities. How did we even get here? How did the first empires even get started? Was it just a matter of telling a really good story that everyone bought into? - You're catching on quickly. Hurry argues that those early empires, they were built as much on these grand narratives, these compelling stories as they were on actual military might. - Okay, I mean, that makes sense. - Think about the divine right of kings. - Yeah. - The idea that the ruler was appointed by God, chosen by a higher power, that their authority came from something beyond human law. - Right, right. - That's a powerful story. And it convinced millions of people to submit to their rule. - It's like, we're all just playing this giant game of make-believe, but the stakes are incredibly high. - Exactly. And this isn't just ancient history. Harari, he draws this fascinating parallel between Hammurabi's code, like one of the earliest known sets of written laws. - Oh yeah, I remember learning about that. - And the US Declaration of Independence. Hammurabi, he claimed his laws were given to him by the gods, right? Super powerful story legitimized his rule. The founding fathers, on the other hand, they told this story about equality, about natural rights, endowed by, well, I guess you could say, a different kind of higher power. - Right, right. - But both of those, at their core, are stories. Both had huge implications for how those societies functioned. - So Hammurabi, founding fathers, all master storytellers in their own way. But what about the people in charge? Like, do they believe their own hype? Or are they kind of in on the joke? - Which is the million dollar question, isn't it? Harari, he digs into this with this great anecdote about Diogenes, this Greek philosopher who get this, lived in a barrel. - lived in a barrel, okay. - Yeah, so the story goes that Alexander the Great, you know, at the height of his power, conqueror of nations, he goes to see Diogenes and asks him, like, is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all, and Diogenes, without missing a beat, says, yeah, you're blocking my son. - He just told Alexander the Great to move. - Pretty much, it's a funny story, but it gets at this really deep point about the nature of power. - Yeah. - Even the most powerful people, they can still recognize, maybe just for a moment, the absurdity of the systems they're upholding. - So are we all just pawns in this game of imagined realities? Like, is there even any point in trying to change the story? - That's where Harari's insight is so valuable, I think. He's not saying when you do abandon these shared stories altogether, they've given us incredible things. Cooperation on a massive scale, complex societies, the ability to put a man on the moon, what he's saying is, we need to be aware of them, to understand how they work, and to recognize that they aren't set in stone. They can, and they do change. Cultures are fluid things, always evolving. - It's like, we're all characters in this epic story, but we actually have the power to influence the plot, even if we don't always realize it. So if societies can change their stories, what happened with the scientific revolution? It feels like that's when our story took a completely different turn, right? - The scientific revolution, yeah, it's like this huge turning point in the story Harari's telling, but what I find so interesting is like, even he can't really explain why it happened in Europe when it did. You'd think, like China, with its long history of empires and inventions and all that, you'd think they'd be the ones leading the charge, right? It's a question that's had historians scratching their heads for ages. And yeah, Harari, he's not afraid to say, hey, sometimes chance and just plain luck, they play a role in how history unfolds. He even points out that for a long time, a lot of the world, they thought Europeans were, like, backwards barbarians. - Which, let's be real, isn't entirely inaccurate when you think about some of the stuff they got up to. But then, yeah, it's like, boom, suddenly, they're the ones sailing around the globe, colonizing left and right, just totally shaking things up. - And this is where Harari's take on it, gets super interesting. He's saying the scientific revolution, it wasn't just about like new gadgets and inventions, it was about a completely different way of thinking. Like Europeans, he argues. They developed this almost obsessive need for knowledge, this kind of insatiable thirst to figure out how everything around them worked. And they took that curiosity and combined it with, well, the tools of empire, you know, resources they were extracting from other parts of the world and used it to fuel their scientific endeavors. - So it wasn't just about being smart, it was about this drive, this almost relentless pursuit of knowledge, but combined with, well, let's call it what it was, a fair bit of ambition. And yeah, even exploitation, makes you really think about the cost of progress on them. - Absolutely. And Harari, he doesn't shy away from those darker aspects, not at all. He's very clear that science and empire, they often went hand in hand, like that quest for knowledge, it often had a justifying conquest. You know, he uses the example of the Manhattan Project, this race to build the atomic bomb. I mean, an incredible scientific achievement, no doubt, but look at the devastated consequences. - Yeah, it's like this double-edged sword, incredible breakthroughs on one side, the potential for unthinkable destruction on the other, it's heavy stuff. So we've gone from these insignificant apes on the Savannah to the dominant species on the planet, all thanks to our big brains, our ability to believe in, well, basically stories and this kind of deep-seated need to understand and ultimately control the world around us. Where does that leave us? What does Harari say about the future? Does he break out the crystal ball? - He does. And let me tell you, things get really wild. He argues that we're like, right on the edge of this totally new kind of revolution, one that could completely change what it even means to be human. - Okay. - He's talking genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, even the possibility of merging with machines. We're talking about a future where we might be able to overcome disease, aging, maybe even death itself. - Whoa, okay, hold on. He even talks about like those experiments with monkeys controlling robotic arms with their minds, right? That's like straight out of a sci-fi movie. It makes you wonder, like, are we getting to the point where science fiction just becomes science-fact? - Harari definitely seems to think so. But, and this is crucial, he also urges us to think long and hard about the ethics of it all. If we can engineer happiness, extend life indefinitely, who gets to decide, who benefits? And what does it even mean to be human in a world where those lines are totally blurred? - It's almost too much to process. He even throws up this idea of like bringing back Neanderthals, like actually resurrecting an extinct human species. It's fascinating and terrifying and ethically complex all at the same time. - Exactly, and that I think is really the core of what Harari is getting at. He's not trying to give us all the answers. He's trying to make us think, you know, to really grapple with these huge questions. He uses this example from the Epic of Gilgamesh, this ancient story about this king who's obsessed with finding the secret to immortality. Harari's point is, even if we could conquer death, would it really solve our problems? Would it make us happy? Or would it just create a whole new set of dilemmas, maybe even worse than the ones we already face? - It's like that old saying, be careful what you wish for, right? I mean, a future without disease, without death, it sounds utopian on the surface. But listening to Harari, you really start to wonder at what cost? - Which brings us to, I think, Harari's most profound point. He suggests that maybe, just maybe, the next revolution won't be technological at all, but rather a revolution of consciousness. - A revolution of consciousness. - Okay, like, maybe the key to happiness, to finding real meaning. It's not about engineering our genes or merging with machines or any of that, but about understanding ourselves better, about exploring our own minds and our inner world, with the same kind of curiosity and rigor that we've, for centuries, applied to the external world. - So, after this crazy journey through human history, from our humble beginnings to this mind-blowing future we're busy creating, Harari leaves us with maybe more questions than answers. It's kind of humbling and exciting all at the same time, don't you think? - Absolutely, it reminds us that the story of humanity, it's still being written, and we're all, each and every one of us, playing a part in how it unfolds. - And on that note, we'll leave you to ponder those big questions. What does it mean to be human in this age of, well, unprecedented change and possibility? What role will you play in writing the next chapter of our collective story? Thanks for joining us for this deep dive in "Disapiens." It's been a wild ride through time and ideas, and well, the enduring mystery of what it means to be human.