Sapiens - even better than Homo Deus

Top quality non fiction, and I found it even better than Homo Deus. 5/5 from me.

Sapiens is a brief summary of how humans came to dominate the world, and of the way we have managed to organise our society to be mostly peaceful and globalised. Reading it armed me with many facts and some new perspectives on religion, science and tribalism.

The religion angle stuck with me most. I previously didn’t put much value on religion, but I still bring up how it allowed us to coordinate tribes larger than Dunbar’s number, and how money lets us get along even with people from different religions or cultures. That money thread greatly influenced how I see it: as a unifying force, a corruptive force, and a “universal intermediate goal”. Even the history of it is fascinating, like the sea shells that were once used as currency.

The book is long, but it contains enough information to justify its length. It felt well researched and accurate. Where facts were not known, it did well to put forward the right questions and discuss the modern literature. At several points the author makes educated guesses, but he clearly lays out the assumptions and reasoning behind his theory each time, which I respect.

Sapiens is one of the most hyped books of the last decade. Honestly I didn’t see much of that hype myself, but having read it, the reputation is deserved. I’d hand this to anyone interested in human society and how we evolved it. I can’t think of anyone who should skip it.