Sapiens: A Brief History of Human Mankind - Yuval Noah Harari - Book Review

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Quite often I get this thought, 'The universe is large. There are so many galaxies and our solar system is nothing more than a speck. Earth is even smaller. Yet, we are the only known living beings. The history of Earth is so vast and it has been there for millions of years. Humans have been there for significant part. Yet, we live in a space with so advanced technology and process complicated stuff out of a tiny little thing in our head known as Brain. Why are we destined to do this?' Yuval Noah Harari has tried to explain this in the book Sapiens. It is an attempt to explain how have Humans come to this stage.

The author defines three main timelines in the history of Homo Sapiens

1. Cognitive Revolution (70000 years ago)

2. Agricultural Revolution (10000 years ago)

3. Scientific Revolution (500 years ago)

When we co-existed with the animals out there in the wild, we were not on top of the food chain. The ancient stone tools discovered were not designed to kill animals. They were used to break bones and eat the marrows inside (So, the big Cats hunt and then lesser animals eat the rest and then scavengers scavenge and after all that humans broke the bone and ate the marrow). Being that weak, Sapiens had a lucky intervention in the form of Cognitive Revolution. Most animals can communicate in some form, but none as detailed and as sophisticated as a Human. This created knowledge and helped humans form groups and communities. It is interesting that Gossips form an important means of communication. It helps establish trust (and it continues till the day).

This was the phase when we were Hunter-Gatherers and Foragers. The author defines this as the best period of Sapiens. They had a relaxed lifestyle, worked less and were fit as they ate a mix of all nutrients. Interestingly, our liking for Sweets has been hardwired from this age. Sweets were such a rarity then and evolution made Sapiens gorge on any sweet they find as it provides abundant energy.

Accidents have always been an important cause of turnaround in Human history. Agricultural revolution was no less. A few Hunter Gatherers found that the wheat they gathered spilled on the way and new wheat grass sprouted. Thus started the domestication. The author further says that it was actually plants like Potato, Wheat and Rice that domesticated us than we domesticating them. Growing these required lot of energy - you had to settle down, plough, remove weed, water and it consumes lot of time. And you end up with one type of food as against the Hunter Gatherers. And due to settling down the human population arose significantly. Thus bigger societies were forming with a big hope of tomorrow, although the life of a farmer was worse than that of a Hunter Gatherer. Hence, the Author calls Agricultural Revolution as the 'Biggest Fraud' in Human History. And this curse continues to chase us today as he says,

'How many young college graduates have taken demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that they will work hard to earn money that will enable them to retire and pursue their real interests when they are thirty-five? But by the time they reach that age, they have large mortgages, children to school, houses in the suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family, and a sense that life is not worth living without really good wine and expensive holidays abroad. What are they supposed to do, go back to digging up roots? No, they double their efforts and keep slaving away.,'

Agricultural Revolution led to unification of mankind in a way that could never happen with animals - we started having Fictional realities like Money, Country, Kingdom, God which doesn't exist in nature. The author digs deeply into three main factors that led to mass unification of Humans - Money, Empire and Religion. All of this leads to Trust and enable unification. As he writes, It is interesting how deep the author goes into each of them and analyze the pros of cons of each.

He also touches upon and pity the domesticated animals that are treated in a very cruel way. 'Domesticated chickens and cattle may well be an evolutionary success story, but they are also among the most miserable creatures that ever lived. The domestication of animals was founded on a series of brutal practices that only became crueler with the passing of the centuries'

In the final part, the author analyzes the reasons for Scientific Revolution starting out of Europe and how it changed the course of the world. He believes is started because the scientists accepted Ignorance in first place. They were ready to explore and gain knowledge. The kingdom supported them and eventually they conquered the world. He also explains the rise of capitalism and interlinking of capitalism and science.

Finally, the author touches upon two aspects - the first one was something that I didn't expect the author would touch upon - Happiness. He tries to find out what exactly Happiness is and how do we define that. The last 50 years have infact been the best part of Homo Sapiens existence. In the entire past history, there was no such time of peace. Yet, does it impact happiness. We live longer than our ancestors. Are we more content? He feels that more research should be done in the field.

The final concluding piece is the future of Homo Sapiens - Will we become Amortal? Will AI take over? Are we Cyborgs today? He looks into various possibilities that might become true.

The depth and width of knowledge covered in this book is amazing. Every page has new information and he has tried to capture it as vividly as possible. Summarizing the book might provide some insights, but reading this book is something very different.

Finally, there are few people who say our generation is the worst of the lot and our ancestors were close to nature. The author disagrees, 'The romantic contrast between modern industry that “destroys nature” and our ancestors who “lived in harmony with nature” is groundless. Long before the Industrial Revolution, Homo sapiens held the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinctions. We have the dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of life.'

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Beliefs!

Hi Guys,

‘Do you believe in God?’ is the question that many people have asked me. I have asked the same question to myself. After lot of debates, I have sort of reached a conclusion. Before, I reveal what my belief is, I would like to write more about beliefs.

My dad often used to say, ‘It is very important to have an unquestionable belief on something. That something maybe God, Astrology, a person, a thought or even self’ It is because, we would always have someone to shoulder upon. If something wrong happens, we can always go back to our belief system and question. You feel comfortable at the end of the day.

More often than not, people try to force their belief systems into you. You might hear comments like, ‘This astrologer is very good and can predict your future’, ‘That temple is very powerful and all your wishes would be granted’, ‘Go and see that Doctor. He is so good’. More often than not, it is based on Psychology. If I don’t believe in something, I don’t. You can’t force me to change in a moment.

To come back to the first question, whether I believe in God, the answer is that ‘I Do’. When I look around the universe, the complicated network of suns, stars, planets and way organisms have evolved, I think God is there. There is something mysterious around all this. But, then it doesn’t mean that I believe in praying. I find so many contradictions. If God is omnipotent and present all around, I don’t find meaning in going to a temple or a religious place. If you believe that it was God you created you, then don’t you believe that God would know what you want. Paradoxes, aren’t they?

Anyway, I like going to temples for I often find some peace of mind. The most important thing is that the temple should be quiet. There are a few temples where you go and the next thing you want to do is come out, for the place would be completely chaotic. If people believe that it is where they can find solutions, then it is good for them.

Sentiments are also part of our belief system. Many people might have some crazy sentiments. But it is so important for them. If they don’t do it and they fail, the failed act often comes back to haunt them. You know, ‘You would be very rational when it comes to others, but when it comes to you….’ Think about it.

There are lot of other belief systems like Astrology, Numerology, Horoscope, signs and zodiacs. People go to an expert and if it happens right, then they develop deep beliefs. But then, I don’t think any of these experts would be 100% right. For if they are right, they would be Gods who can predict the future.

Beliefs are Psychological in nature. They create a system for you to survive in. You feel there is something beyond you and you can follow some footpaths.

Respecting others beliefs is more important. Don’t hurt them, just because you don’t believe in that belief. Going to temple for the sake of love is not going to cost you anything. Obliging to some sentiments doesn’t affect you. When people force you to go beyond a certain limit, stop. I have often seen people doing things for sake of doing and ending up having a firm belief on something. It gives them a strong grip on life.

My belief is a thought. I always believe in the thought that ‘Whatever happens, happens for a reason’. You might believe in anything – God, Devil, Person, Sentiment, Thought. But, do remember that other people believe in something different and that is important for them. Don’t hurt their beliefs.

When I was working for an assignment, I found these beautiful lines by Fritz Perls. It is known as ‘Gestalt Prayer’

I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
If not, it can't be helped.

Happy Reading!

P.S: This post has evolved from conversations I had with my friends, parents and even myself. 

Interesting Behaviors!

Hi Guys,

Are people inherently Good? Are people inherently bad? Well, I don’t know. I believe that there is a bit of good in every bad and vice versa. But, I do believe that people are inherently interesting. The way people do things, behave or act can be very intriguing. Everyone has got some individuality in them and I don’t judge people based on their behavior, though I can’t avoid observing. This is a post on some of the people I have seen and known.

This incident happened when I was studying Engineering (I guess third year). I happened to be in my friend’s room one evening. A few other friends were there too and we were just having some random conversations. We decided to watch a movie and the movie was ‘Paranormal Activity 3’. One of my friends was dead scared and he said he wanted to go as he was staying alone in his room. Two of my friends forced him to stay. They started the movie, switched off the lights. And we started watching the movie. The scared friend asked, ‘Whether the movie was real?’ And actually in the title card, the director would have thanked the police department for giving records and this added to his nightmare. The movie was not that scary. But, thanks to the extra efforts made, he was so afraid to go to his room, by the end of the movie. I’m not sure how peacefully he slept that night. People who are not afraid of ghosts are actually stimulated to scare others.

This incident also happened around the same time and in the same place. It was another day and I happened to be there. My friend asked me if I am free. I said, ‘Yes’. Till date, I’m wondering why I said yes. He said he was planning to take some short films and he wanted to know my opinions on the story. He called me to the terrace. He went on to say three stories – one romance, one drama and one unconventional story. From the way he said, it was like he was nearly ready and he was going to start shooting next week. I spent 2-3 hours suggesting and arguing with him. Till date, he has not started the shooting. I’m wondering why I was the chosen candidate to say the stories.

Imagine, you are a professor. What would you do, if you ask students to solve a problem and they say the answer in order to confirm? Refer the book or refer your notes. Isn’t it? We had an interesting professor during my Engineering. She would ask us to solve problems. As usual, there would be some who would start solving immediately, some who would never even touch and some like me who would solve now and then. After some time, she would ask for answer. There used to be lot of responses. And you know, how answers would be confirmed? It would be by means of majority. Or sometimes average of different answers that arise. Sometimes, it would be more interesting when most people don’t answer. She would ask some students (4-5) and if 3 students get the same value that would be the answer. I’m still wondering how our answer papers were evaluated.

And there are lot of interesting people who we meet every day. Sometimes, we would be the interesting people for many other people. There is a friend of mine who is confused as to where he belongs to. He used to say that he was from Bhutan and now he says he is from Bhopal. When I traveled in train last time, there was passenger who kept on asking to every other passenger whether Chennai Egmore was the last stop or the train continued. He was afraid of oversleeping. A few days back, there was a passenger in a bus who refused to pay for his luggage (a sack) and headed the bus to a police station (I got in between and changed). We live in an interesting world!

Happy Reading!

P.S:

1. I was one of the two friends who forced the scared friend to stay. A self-noted interesting behavior.
2. This post in just an observation of behaviors. There are a few exaggerations in order to make the narrative interesting. If anything hurts anyone, I am sorry.

Genetic Memory - Our Preconditioned Mind

Hi Guys,

In the past few months, I have read at many places that Human Brain reacts in a manner that cannot be rationally explained in certain situations. Many psychologists explain that this may be due to ‘Genetic Memory’

What is a Genetic Memory? It is the memory that has been passed on to you from your ancestors through genes. Generally, your brain remembers things that happens to you after a certain age and makes you react to certain situations based on that. For example, read the words below

                                                Banana                                                                                 Sick

Your mind correlates an incident that happened when you were sick and ate banana or vice versa. This is because of the memory that is stored in your brain.

But, there are situations where you react for no particular reason. When you meet a new person, your mind quickly builds an impression on the person. You might think that, it is due to the memories from the past. But, actually even if you meet a new person who is so completely different, you tend to create an impression and that tends to be correct more than 90% of the times. And how long does your mind takes to build that impression – 1/5^th of a second. Amazing, isn’t it?

How does this happen? No one knows how. The most plausible explanation is that it has been passed to you by your ancestors. Remember Darwin’s ‘Survival of the fittest’. For us to survive we need to know who our enemy is and hence it has been the most important part of our evolution. This principle has been studied even candidates standing in elections. Most people select people based on their intuition and feeling. Dangerous, isn’t it? It happens in interviews too. It has been found that to correct a wrong first impression, you need nine good impressions. No doubt that it is said, ‘First Impression is the best Impression’

I am currently reading the book ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain. In a part, she explains why humans are afraid of Public Speaking. The initial stage of Human evolution was in the forests and deserts of Africa. Humans had to be sharp to defend from Animals. Speaking was not an integral part of Human Beings for so long. It has become difficult for many people to come out suddenly and speak.

The most interesting concept from ‘Genetic Memory’ is ‘Loss Aversion’. Human Beings have been conditioned to avoid Losses. It again goes back to the Darwinian Theory. To survive, you cannot lose something. Loss Aversion works in many interesting ways. Consider an example – A dangerous virus has spread in a hospital. You have two different drugs with the following outcome

A: 100 people can be saved

B: 20% probability that 500 people can be saved

Which option would you choose? Most people would go with Option A. Now consider the options C, D

C: 400 people would die

D: 80% probability that 500 would die

Now which option would you choose? Most people would choose Option D. Interestingly options A and C are same as well as B and D are same. When it comes to survival, we choose the definite one and when it comes to loss, we tend to choose a more probabilistic one.

It reflects in our day today behavior. Before entering into a work, we are neutral. But after entering the work, you tend to think more about positives of the work. Daniel Kahneman in his book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ would have described a beautiful situation. There are twin brothers A and B. When they join work, they are given two options – ‘One extra leave per month or additional salary of $1000’. But only one person can opt for an option. Initially, both options seem equal to the brothers. After some time, the firm says if they want to interchange their positions, they can. Now, the option with one extra leave means losing $1000 and it doesn’t look good. Similarly, losing an extra day off also doesn’t sound good. So, they remain in their positions.

It has been found that, in such situations, the loss looks highly valuable and human mind wants something 2.5 times its size to compensate (i.e. $2500 for the extra leave or 2.5 days leave for the extra $1000). Intriguing, isn’t it? That is why we often find out the advantage other people have. But, if we are put into that position, we forget the advantages and speak about the sufferings. Our mind reminds us of the things we lose and not what we gain.

It is interesting to know, how deeply ingrained our thought process is, isn’t it? As Brad Pitt once said, ‘I’m one of those people you hate because of Genetics. That is the truth’

Happy Reading!

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman - Book Review

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Are Human Beings rational? Most of us know that we are not. Daniel Kahneman has collated his detailed research work into a single book and describes how our mind works. Daniel Kahneman won Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002 for his works in Behavioural Economics.

The book starts with an introduction to our thinking and how we work. Daniel Kahneman speaks about two systems inside our mind, namely System 1 and 2. System 1 is the fast thinking system that works based on intuition. System 2 is the slow thinking system that takes decisions rationally. More often, we take decisions based on System 1. System 1 is so powerful that it overrides System 2 in most of the cases.

The author has divided the book into five parts. The first part is about the two systems and how our mind works. He gives us many famous perceptions and concludes that no matter, how much our mind knows that the perception is false, System 1 will make us believe that it is true. More often than not, we are shown two lines which are of similar size, but appears unequal in appearance. By now, our mind should have understood that they are equal. But, we continue to perceive that they are unequal. This famous Muller Lyer Experiment is a result of our System Conflict.

The second part is on Heuristics and Biases. In this part, the author says how we are susceptible to biases and how our mind plays with it. For example, car accidents result in more deaths than flight accidents. Still, the nature of flight accidents make us fear flight travel. Similarly, rare disasters make us fear about those events rather than normal events. He also says how statistics can turn if wrong base is used and how often we use statistics wrongly to make it comply with our intuition.

The third part is on Overconfidence. Here, the author writes about various illusions. He says that our mind fits in patterns to the success stories and make us think that we need to repeat them in order to be successful. But, more often than not, it doesn't result in a success. He also writes about how intuitions are more often wrong and how we continue to believe them. But, he also writes about when intuitions can be correct sometimes.

The next part is on choices. This is a part where he has written about most of his significant research works in the field of Economics. He says how Utility theory has some errors and how Prospect theory aims to correct them. He writes about the difference between Economists and Human Beings. Reference point is important to find impact and we don't use it very often. Getting rich by $10 is different for a millionaire and a poor guy.

In the final part, he concludes by writing about two type of selves - Experiencing self and Remembering Self. He says that more often, people do works based on Remembering self, though it might be more painful for experiencing self.

He uses the term 'Loss Aversion' in the book often. Human Mind is oriented towards avoiding losses, rather than seeking gains. Gains must outnumber losses in the ratio of 2.5: 1 for us to accept the gamble. He refers this to the evolution of mankind. In order to survive, organisms have been trained to avoid losses and this has been imprinted in our mind.

Overall, the book is a good one for people who want to know about Psychology. The author is very humble and associates all those people who were present with him during that approach. He also writes about the limitations of his theories and says that he might be bound by some the theories and may not be right. The author has understood very well about human mind works and he has presented the book with a lot of examples and practical approaches. The book is a must read, if you are interested in knowing how you make decisions.

So if we read this book, will we think differently? Well, this is what Daniel Kahneman has to say,

It's not a case of: 'Read this book and then you'll think differently. I've written this book, and I don't think differently'

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Happy Reading!!!

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell - Book Review

Hi Guys,

I read the book ‘The Tipping Point’ written by Malcolm Gladwell a few days ago. After reading some very good reviews about the book, I started reading the book. The book is one of the best books I have read. The book revolves around the theme of spreading a Social Epidemic. The theme of the book is ‘How little things can make a big difference’

How does an epidemic start? A person is first affected by a virus or some other microbe. If the environmental factors suit the disease to spread, the epidemic is all set to grow. Similarly we often see many social incidences spreading in a very quick span of time. The recent example is the starting of Confessions page by college students across India.

Malcolm Gladwell analyzes the factors that contribute to the Social Epidemics with lot of examples from various fields. He defines ‘Three Rules of Epidemics’ to explain the mysterious behaviour.

The first one is the Law of the Few, where he says there are a few people who contribute to the spread of news. He gives them a name – Connectors. They are people who have contact with a large group of people and can convince people. There are also other people like Mavens, who know all the information around and Persuaders. With the insightful examples given, we are able to relate from our day to day life.

The next rule is the Stickiness factor, where he says that after the news is spread, you need something sticky for the Epidemic to remain sustainable. He gives example with the help of two Children programs in USA and how they were very successful for a long period.

The third one is the Power of Context, where he says that Environment is very important. He brings in example from New York about how Urban Crime was reduced. He says about the famous Broken Window theory which says that a small broken window paves way for more people to break bigger parts. Next he goes into a magical number principle where he says there is something very powerful with 150 and brings in examples from various places of how managing a group within 150 is very efficient.

After this chapter, he gives two case studies analyzing the various factors that were discussed earlier.

This is a very good book if you are interested in knowing about Human Behaviour, Psychology or how mind works. It is a very good book for marketing people to know more about marketing a product to a mass segment. The intuitive examples make the book a very interesting read.

The author has also written two other books – ‘Blink’ and ‘The Outliers’. Both the books are said to be as good as The Tipping Point or even better. I hope to read them soon.

Happy Reading!!!