Sapiens: A brief history of humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is a book that was on President Obama's reading list and looked interesting to me.
Started: 8/2/2017
Completed: 8/24/2017
Recommended By: President Obama
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Review:
The first half of the book was a bit of drudgery for me. It was largely a rehash of things I already knew well and I was getting worried that the whole book would be that way. The second half, however, was excellent and it built cleanly on the first half (so, I would not skip the first half). The very end was mostly speculation about when/how "humans" might graduate from being "Sapiens" to some other form of existence. I found this later part also a rehash of speculation with which I have long been familiar.
The focus on Capitalism as a "religion" and the concept of happiness as a measure of the success of changes that have been made were both novel to me. I really enjoyed the insights that both pieces brought and I was, once again, reminded that I should be spending more time meditating and making that part of my normal existence. It seems that almost everything I encounter encourages me to spend more time meditating. I think that this is because more and more learned people are experiencing the value and wanting to share it with others. Either that or there is a divine force pushing me to meditate :).
I highly recommend this book as long as you will not be offended by the broad definition of "religion."
The first half of the book was a bit of drudgery for me. It was largely a rehash of things I already knew well and I was getting worried that the whole book would be that way. The second half, however, was excellent and it built cleanly on the first half (so, I would not skip the first half). The very end was mostly speculation about when/how "humans" might graduate from being "Sapiens" to some other form of existence. I found this later part also a rehash of speculation with which I have long been familiar.
The focus on Capitalism as a "religion" and the concept of happiness as a measure of the success of changes that have been made were both novel to me. I really enjoyed the insights that both pieces brought and I was, once again, reminded that I should be spending more time meditating and making that part of my normal existence. It seems that almost everything I encounter encourages me to spend more time meditating. I think that this is because more and more learned people are experiencing the value and wanting to share it with others. Either that or there is a divine force pushing me to meditate :).
I highly recommend this book as long as you will not be offended by the broad definition of "religion."
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