A brief history of mankind

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A Brief History of Mankind is a non-fiction book by Yuval Noah Harari , professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , published in 2011 in Israel in Hebrew under the title Ḳizur Toldot Ha-Enoshut , Hebrew קיצור תולדות האנושות, appeared. The English translation, entitled Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind , came out in 2014. The German translation from English was done by Jürgen Neubauer and was published by Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt in 2013 . The book had been translated into almost 50 languages ​​by 2018 and had a circulation of over 10 million.

In comparison with the time span since the Big Bang , which is around 13.8 billion years ago, the history of mankind is relatively short at around 70,000 years. The book describes the development of mankind from its beginnings to today's “ruler of the earth”. With knowledge from various scientific disciplines, the author pursues big questions. Is man the crown of creation or the horror of the ecosystem? This predominance has grown steadily until today. What made us what we are What are we tomorrow

Summary

Human-like beings already existed 2.5 million years ago. From the family of great apes today's kind of has before about 150,000 years ago in East Africa Homo sapiens developed. There were at least five other forms of the same genus, such as the Neanderthals , but none of them survived. Compared to animals, all human species are characterized by their upright gait and a comparatively large brain. The brain is a big energy guzzler with 25% of the total requirement. By discovering fire and cooking food, people who lived as hunters and gatherers were able to significantly reduce the amount of energy consumed.

Harari divides human history into four phases, which he calls revolutions:

  1. the cognitive revolution (from approx. 70,000 years BC)
  2. the agricultural revolution (from around 10,000 years BC)
  3. the unification of mankind (from approx. 800 years BC)
  4. the scientific revolution (from around AD 1,500)

The cognitive revolution

Harari describes the ability to learn, memory and communicative competence as the cognitive abilities that develop from around 70,000 BC. In Homo sapiens . The building of complex structures that we call cultures today began. Humans began to expand their habitat, first to the Middle East and then to the entire Eurasian area, later by boat to Australia and Oceania. The first objects that can be described as art and jewelry date from this time. With the help of language he developed legends, myths, values, norms, knowledge, religions and other products of the imagination that were the basis for developing and consolidating collectives and other forms of togetherness. This process enables effective forms of organization to successfully complete complex actions together. It is the basis for regulated social behavior and for the dominance of Homo sapiens in the ecosystem. Over time, Homo sapiens displaced all other human species, although science has not yet fully clarified the details of this process, which ended around 50,000 years ago. With the expansion of its habitat, the hunter-gatherer caused great extinction of species, especially in the animal world. Even then, Homo sapiens held the sad record as the creature responsible for the extinction of most animal and plant species.

The agricultural revolution

As a result of a regional increase in the number of people, Homo sapiens settled down and began farming, domesticated wild animals and rearing cattle. Harari calls this the agricultural revolution. Fixed settlements were built. So more people could be fed, the disadvantages were unusually hard work, a less varied diet, a higher regional population density, the increase in diseases and the urge for prosperity (“luxury trap”). For animals domesticated as pets, Harari views the agricultural revolution as a terrible disaster. Because of the seasonal and climatic uncertainties of rural life, man developed food storage. However, ownership led to desire among third parties. A system of rulers and elites was formed to protect or rob the peasants. The elites accumulated riches and established domains. They consolidated their systems through cultural or religious orders that everyone believed in (such as monarchy). For better organization of coexistence, humans developed tools such as number systems and writing, and hierarchical structures emerged.

The union of humanity

With the unification of mankind, Harari describes the process that individual cultures take over other cultures in whole or in part. He also sees a revolution in this. According to him, the basis of this process is the order of money, the order of empires and the order of world religions. Meant are traders, conquerors and prophets. Money has made trade much more efficient compared to the barter economy, it facilitates the storage of assets and it enables the transport of material values. Harari describes money as a fantasy product: "Trust is the raw material from which coins are minted." Empires unite different cultures under one roof and create their own dominant culture that continues to develop even after the fall of the empire. Religion is the third great force that contributed to the unification of humanity. It refers to a superhuman order and in the form of uniform values ​​and norms gives an order a stable foundation.

The scientific revolution

The scientific revolution began around 500 years ago, and its dynamism has increased further over the past 200 years. Man realized that one can come to power, fame and fortune through research and new technologies. The drivers of this development were imperialism and the emergence of capitalism. Both have their origins initially in Europe and later also in North America as well as the governments and companies there. Financial markets emerged which, relying on profitable growth prospects, accelerated economic development. Medical advances have increased life expectancy. The number of people on our planet has increased in the course of the scientific revolution from around 500 million in the 16th century to over 7.5 billion. The industrial economy has solved the problem of scarcity and has now replaced it with the ethics of consumption. The consequences are environmental degradation, the dissolution of family ties, an increasing influence of the state on the individual and the emergence of “invented” communities (e.g. nations or fan clubs). The end of imperialism, atomic peace, a considerable increase in material prosperity and medical progress shape the present. Harari explores the question of whether people are happier today and states that happiness depends on our subjective sensations influenced by biochemistry, our meaning in life, or the absence of subjective sensations and a meaning in life. Harari rates bio- and cyborg technology as well as the development of non-organic life with great concern, since instead of natural selection it can equate the intelligent design of living beings and humans could have no plan what they want or become with this knowledge , to put it in dystopian terms, will want.

reception

The book has hit the bestseller lists in many countries . In Israel, it was number 1 for non-fiction books for 100 weeks. It was received largely positively by general literary criticism, while scientific statements came to a more differentiated and sometimes negative result.

"A book that dares to answer one of the great questions of history and is successful, catchy and fascinating: How could humanity - more precisely: how could Homo sapiens - rise to the inviolable most powerful species on the planet?"

- Christian K., a reader : Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Despite its high density of facts, the topic is entertainingly prepared, which is mainly due to the clear structure and the linguistically brilliant presentation. It does away with prejudices and opens up new perspectives. The modern chapter comes a little short ... "

- Sebastian Meißner : Literaturkritik.de

“Much of Sapiens is extremely interesting, and it is often well expressed. As one reads on, however, the attractive features of the book are overwhelmed by carelessness, exaggeration and sensationalism. "

“Much of the book is very interesting and is often well worded. If you read on, however, essential parts show too much negligence, exaggeration and signs of sensationalism. "

- Galen Strawson : The Guardian

"Harari's book is important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens."

"Harari's book is an important reading material for the open-minded, thoughtful Homo sapiens."

- Avi Tuschman : The Washington Post

“... whenever his facts are broadly correct they are not new, and whenever he tries to strike out on his own he often gets things wrong, sometimes seriously. So we should not judge Sapiens as a serious contribution to knowledge but as 'infotainment', ... a wild intellectual ride across the landscape of history, dotted with sensational displays of speculation, and ending with blood-curdling predictions about human destiny. "

“Where his information is reasonably correct, it is not new, and whenever he tries to make his own contributions, he understands facts wrongly, sometimes completely wrongly. Therefore, we should not understand "Sapiens" as a serious contribution to knowledge, but as "infotainment", ... a wild spiritual ride through history, peppered with sensational speculations on display and ending in terrifying predictions about the fate of humanity. "

- Christopher Robert Hallpike : New English Review

See also

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Entry in the DNB , accessed on April 10, 2018.
  2. ↑ Yuval Noah Harari: personal website. Retrieved September 19, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Yuval Noah Harari: A Brief History of Humanity. Pantheon Verlag, Munich, ISBN 978-3-641-10498-6 .
  4. ↑ Book presentation: A Brief History of Mankind. In: Random House website. Retrieved April 1, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Sebastian Meißner: How man became what he is. In: literaturkritik.de. November 21, 2015, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Christian K. (reader): A Brief History of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . October 14, 2017, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  7. ^ Galen Strawson: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari - review. In: The Guardian. September 11, 2014, accessed July 15, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Avi Tuschman: How humans wurde humane. In: The Washington Post . June 16, 2016, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Christopher Robert Hallpike: A Response to Yuval Harari's 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind'. New English Review, December 2017, accessed April 27, 2020.