6 things I learned in the book Sapiens


Sapiens is a best seller. The history of humans. What a topic.
And I think it's a masterpiece.

A couple of things I learned in it:

1. We try to understand who were our ancestors based on what we found about them in the soil. So limited. Better to say we can't know much about them with such limited clues.
And even things we know for sure, we rarely know why it happened.

2; Agriculture came with a LOT of issues. Life of humans who start practicing agriculture but it allowed rapid demographic growth and that's the main KPI we follow regarding species success.
Hunter-gatherers were surely smarter than us as they were obliged to master all about nature to survive.

3. Humans have a unique ability: trust fictions together. Currencies, countries, human rights, laws, religions, communism, liberalism are fictions and we trust them.
Consumerism sells to people "experiences" that are fictions too.

4. Technology comes in the XVth century and changes the game of human civilization. It accelerated in the 1800s. Before, technology progress was pretty limited along centuries. Bubble explode often when innovation slows down.

5. Slavery developed not because we hated black people but because people were indifferent about seeing them made slaves.

6. Well-being is biologic and not linked to our political regimes and level of wealth.
Boudhism desacralizes our feelings.
Liberalism sacralizes subjective well-being.
Big mistake with well-being: Heroinomans are very well when they take drugs but drugs are not the solution for their well-being.
Being part of a community and have a purpose in life bring happiness.