Humankind
Rutger Bregman
12 people recommended it in 5 threads, 2021–2022.
1 commenter pushed back on it — worth reading the threads.
What people on Hacker News said
Both provide ample hope that humanity can mature (back) out of some of the destructive states we've found ourselves in, and provide historical context and supporting evidence.
Basically, it wasn't until we settled down in one place that humans were able to create massive inequality. In order to protect those levels of inequality, the powerful elite created concepts like property ownership, the divine right of kings, etc.
It shows an optimistic view of the world through history, he mentions with facts why we trust, why this was/is our most valuable asset to survive and why the biggest advantage of humanity is friendliness even today.
read that at the beginning of the year in between lockdowns and it really helped make me feel more positive about humanity in general. It's not always as bad as we think it is.
It restores faith in our natural collective goodness. Our self-reflection has been and is being manipulated and distorted for us to perceive ourselves as inherently dangerous and even evil. This book brings evidence to the contrary and is very helpful.
If you are feeling cynical about your species thanks to climate change, COVID, etc. it may be exactly what you need.
It provides a lot of strong evidence for an optimistic rather than cynical take on human nature.
I also found Humankind to be very enjoyable, illuminating and worthwhile antidote to a lot of the default assumptions we make about human behavior.
Where it comes up
- Books I loved reading this year 2021 · 6 recommendations
- Ask HN: What are some of the best books you have read in 2022? 2022 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021? 2021 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What book changed your life? 2022 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2021? 2021 · 1 recommendation