Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
The
Cognitive
Revolution
The ability to transmit information about things that do not exist at all.
Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths. Any large-scale human cooperation – whether a modern state, a medieval church, an ancient city or an archaic tribe – is rooted in common myths that exist only in people’s collective imagination.— The Power of Fiction
Peugeot is a myth. It exists only as a legal fiction, yet it can own property and pay taxes.
The Neural Cave
Connect the minds. Witness the birth of gods and corporations.
The Calculus of Misery
Wild and free, but hungry.
The
Golden
Trap
History's biggest fraud. We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us.
One of history’s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations. Once people get used to a certain luxury, they take it for granted. Then they begin to count on it. Finally they reach a point where they cannot live without it.— The Luxury Trap
The average farmer worked harder than the average forager, and got a worse diet in return.
The
Unification
of Humankind
Three universal orders merged the human world: Money, Empire, and Religion.
Money is the most universal and most efficient system of mutual trust ever devised. Even people who do not believe in the same god or obey the same king are more than willing to use the same money.— The Coin of Trust
Money is the only thing everyone trusts. It bridges the gap between cultures.
The Universal Solvent
Flip the coin to see how money conquers all.
The
Scientific
Revolution
The discovery of ignorance. We admitted that we do not know.
For men of science, death is not an inevitable destiny, but merely a technical problem. And for every technical problem there is a technical solution.— The Gilgamesh Project
The feedback loop between Science, Empire, and Capital has created the modern world.
1500 AD: The Empty Map
The Book That Explains Us
Enter the Empire Bazaar"Sapiens is a starburst of a book... It is one of the best accounts I have read of the human condition."
Further Reading for the Future
Homo Deus
Yuval Noah Harari
What happens next? From Sapiens to Gods.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
Navigating the immediate challenges of the present.
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Jared Diamond
Understanding the environmental factors that shaped history.