Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harari

A book that slapped me in the face when I needed it most.

And need it, I did.

This book covers the entire history of Homo Sapiens; the good, the bad and the ugly. It is the confident, evidence-based story of our journey so far and where we are headed. Most reviews I’ve read about this book claim that it’s not for idealists and dreamers. I am here to say that it is precisely for them.

“Culture tends to argue that it forbids only that which is unnatural. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behavior, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition.”

Give them this book. Harari provides an incredible model from which to view history, our systems and the future. If life sucks, read this book. If you’re desperately grasping for a new perspective, read this book. If you’re bored of how wonderful your life is- read this book.

If this was the level of education we received in school, the effect would be as profound then as it has been later on in my life. And we would have much more time to ingest, reflect and progress.

Only when you realize how much humans have trapped themselves in this lifestyle over centuries can we make any attempts to grow out of it.

“We study history not to know the future but to widen our horizons, to understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable, and that we consequently have many more possibilities before us than we imagine.”