In his best-selling book Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari traces the strange and fascinating history of our species, from the cave dwellers to artificial intelligence. Here is a little resume of the book.
The Big Bang took place 13.5 billion years ago, but there still are traces of its existence in space. Physics and chemistry appeared. Clouds of dust and molecules collapsed together and created a chunk of rock floating in space, which is our planet Earth. A few molecules then combined into strange and complicated structures called organisms. That was the birth of biology. Later, chimpanzees and humans evolved from the same matter. History is the development of human culture. There are three important revolutions in human history: The Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution and the Scientific Revolution (in that order).
The Cognitive Revolution started when humans began to think in more sophisticated ways. They skyrocketed to the top of the food chain, as they were able to kill predators. They eradicated forests using fire, killed lions with spears, and some believe that they extinguished many species in Australia. Homo Sapiens moved out of their native territory. With more resources and new hunting techniques, they conquered the globe.
Humans cooperated in groups, and that is one of the most important things that distinguishes humans from chimpanzees. We imagine a second reality, parallel to the true reality. By establishing this second reality in a group, we create order. Humans can congregate in millions, usually without chaos. However, chimpanzees cannot cooperate in large groups.
The Agricultural Revolution is a hotly contested subject. Some people say that this event lead humans to near paradise. On the other side, some say it lead humanity to its doom. Humans had learned agriculture and had produced a lot of food. However, agriculture costs a lot of time and space. Tribes began to stay at one spot. They were no longer nomads.
Religion played a key role in humankind history. In the Middle Ages, some people were burned at the stake because some thought they were witches. Natural phenomena were heavily linked to superstitions. People did not believe in science. Today, the Bible isn’t trusted or much used anymore. Maybe because we will soon become gods ourselves.
“I am fascinated by the happy and cruel history of humankind: there were many difficulties, turning points or even climactic events and scenes. Harari describes this journey with an eloquent pen. ”