The Book Review: Sapiens - A brief history of humankind

"Any meaning that people ascribe to their lives is just delusional" 

A book which has these words in one of the last chapters as a closure is indeed totally profound. I picked up this book while amidst a global pandemic and each and everything written in it makes so much sense. At a time when we are so much unaware about the future of mankind, this book helps us explore the past and how we have come to the state where we are today. An anthropological account of human evolution, the author clearly takes us through a time travel through the past. From Neanderthals to Sapiens, from foragers & hunter gatherers to community dwellers, a vivid description of the evolution through centuries has been beautifully captured. 

Yuval Noah Harari has tried to present a factual representation of the changing economic, social and cultural perspectives of our species over ages. He goes ahead to state that it's the minuscule changes in every generation which eventually led to major milestones being achieved. At some places, he argues favorably for the community dwelling settlement of hunters and gathers and how the Agricultural Revolution has binded us to our own shackles of fears and dystopian concept of freedom. It can be a long Debate regarding progression and being rooted and what should be chosen when. However, the end result lies in the fact that exploration, changing laws based on time and assimilation of all the facts together has beaded out the world which we are living in currently. He further explores the thought of happiness and its existence in the present world amidst technological, economical and social advancement. 

He elucidates on the rise of empires, religion, the gradual shift from polytheism to monotheism and the evolution of money, capitalism and consumerism. Thoughts such as “we did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us” is hard hitting. Another of his phrases - Agricultural revolution was one of history's biggest frauds leaves us questioning the mere existence of our societies.

As he touches on the Frankenstein prophecy, he raises an interesting perspective: where are we slowly creating monsters in the name of technological advancement or are the monsters who were responsible for the extinction of all other species similar to ours. He explicitly goes ahead to state : The Frankenstein myth confronts Homo Sapiens with the fact that the last days are fast approaching.Unless some nuclear or ecological catastrophe intervenes, the pace of technological development will soon lead to the replacement of Homo Sapiens by beings who possess not only different physiques but different cognitive and emotional state. As he talks about the Gilgamesh project based on the thought of amortality - he is also sure that biotechnology; precisely genetic engineering. is the route through which this can be achieved. But will amortality eventually lead to happiness is a question he wants us to ponder upon. He strongly advocates the fact that Happiness comes from within and no external factor can buy it for us for a long period of time.

The lacuna which this book could not fill is that we cannot fit a 14bn history in a 400 pages book however hard one tries. The book touches the present and lays grounds for future as well which he beautifully describes in his next book “Homo Deus”. Much of Sapiens is interesting but there are lots of stories which eventually are based on perspectives rather than factual historical accounts. The book starts on a very high and engaging note and ends on the same, however, there are sections in the middle which one starts questioning from a factual point. Nonetheless, it is a must read book to understand maybe one of the perspectives of human past, present and future.