A Review:
“History is something that very few people have been doing while everyone else was ploughing fields and carrying water buckets.”
Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The Sapien book of Yuval Noah Harare was an enticing tale of how human dominance had emerged through the years despite the emergence of similar types of species like Homo Neanderthals in Europe, Homo Erectus in Asia, Homo Soloensis in Java, and other similar species to that of Homo Sapiens. It is the development of human cognitive revolution which introduced human to fire thereby giving an added advantage in the food chain.
Human Cognitive Development
The evolution of the human brain had further added to more activities that would further enhance human dominance over this world. Homo sapiens emerged from East Africa. It is this unique ability of Homo Sapien to cooperate in a very flexible way that gave them the title of master of the food chain. Maybe the huge extinction of unknown animals by large has its reason deeply embedded in the emergence of the new species Homo Sapien which means wise man.
The continuous migration of Homo Sapien to different parts of the world somehow led to the extinction of some of the animals which will include Mammoth, Giant sloth, and other indigenous animals. Somehow there are animals that could cooperate on a large scale like that of ants. But their cooperation was so rigid that we never hear the tales of army ants revolting against the queen ant. Then there are elephants too which do cooperate in a very flexible way, but they don’t possess this ability to cooperate on a large scale.
So it was the human who could cooperate on a large scale and that too in a very flexible way. Moreover, the scientific revolution and the industrial revolution of humans placed them with no threat to their dominance over the world.
What Next?
Despite all the achievement’s in the field of science and education, would we be happy and contented in our life? The basic natures of humans have always been a hunter and we had successfully modified our course of nature from that of the hunter to that of a more resilient and calmer one. Now the question is how long would we be able to maintain the same natural course of our structure with the emergence of new fields like genetic engineering, nanotechnology, DNA modification, and bionic organs which could further strengthen the evolution of Homo sapien into a much different one probably a stronger one.
How about a better world?
Recollecting some of the beautiful accounts of why human resorts to the habit of keeping and storing of foods, the theory behind the human habit of having three meals a day are some of the beautiful insight you will get to know in this book. This book is a must-read for all of us in knowing everything about us and how we were successful enough in adapting to this world.
I had thoroughly enjoyed this book with so many new dimensions to our own knowledge about human beings. Understanding the evolutionary pattern of our species will allow us in following a better pattern for a better future. With this realization, it is now up to us to take it from here, and there is absolutely no doubt we’ll need to do it together.
Sapiens meaning:
The word Sapiens derives (or comes) from an old Latin word meaning ‘Wise’. The word ‘Sapiens’ is most commonly recognized when used in conjunction with the word ‘Homo’ (an ancient Greek word meaning ‘same, or man’). Used together and written as ‘Homo sapiens’, it describes a species of man or human being. Same wise, or in modern terms ‘likewise’.
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