According to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical - and sometimes devastating - breakthroughs of the cognitive, agricultural and scientific revolutions:
- While the 20C was about healing the sick; 21C may be about upgrading the healthy.
- The Agricultural Revolution didn't benefit everyone; e.g. poor women tilling in fields in Ancient Egypt [and perhaps still today?] were much worse off in terms of diet, health than their hunter gatherer ancestors.
- We could create a new abundance - allowing everyone to have everything they wish - if that's the story, the meta-narrative that we collectively choose.
- However, as subjective creatures, we have conflicting stories, but nevertheless the most successful stories can spread globally (e.g. those about religion, or the notion that human rights are natural rather than a created idea).
- Still, 150 (i.e. Dunbar's number) seems to be the maximum size of homogenous human groupings, so getting consistent narratives out beyond this number will always be challenging.
See also:
- Free online Coursera course on A Brief History of Humankind
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind review – thrilling story, dark message
- Author Dr Yuval Noah Harari talking about the book at the Royal Society of Arts (video below).
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