Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit (German Edition)

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Since the subject is considerably broad, it is not unusual that alongside gods, universe, money, human rights, social patterns, Christianity, dharma, colonialism, the author writes also about new technologies, the immense diversity of imagined realities that Sapiens invented, capitalism, Karl Marx, the discovery of America and much more. I felt like we jumped very quickly from the story about Neanthertal to the question like "what maintains the military order? Nevertheless, I really admire his style of writing and before all, I agree with him.

View all 14 comments. I loved the start of this book. I was so into it. Dragged in the middle and picked up again during part four for me.

Didn't read all of it just the bits i was most interested in. But from a biological perspective, nothing is unnatural. Whatever is possible is by definition also natural. A truly unnatural behaviour, one that goes against the laws of nature, simply cannot exist, so it would need no prohibition. Somehow Yuval Noah Harari is able to condense human history into pages, and it's both concise enough to not drag, but detailed enough to feel like you're really developing knowledge.

I love all the different threads this book bought together: What I liked about this was that it was so educational, but also quite funny and entertaining.

It was so easy to follow because of how the author infused it with jokes and funny comparisons. If you're someone like me who enjoys non-fiction but isn't a massive buff that balance between facts and humour was so nice.

It's definitely a beginners, "I don't do this often" type book, but thats what I am so for me it was perfect. This book definitely blew my mind, multiple times. Can't tell you how many times I messaged friends and family like "did you know that scientists are going to inject Neanderthal DNA into a human so they give birth to a Neanderthal" and "did you know Homo Sapiens, Homo Erectus and Neanderthal's were alive at the same time? My perspective on some issues were challenged which was really nice. Some of the chapters though were definitely less interesting then others.

The beginning was so interesting and my favourite part, early human civilisations were covered so well, but some of the discussions on economics and religion didn't engage me as much. Maybe because I hate math? It's easy to read despite it's subject matter, and definitely taught me a thing or ten. I actually listened to this on audiobook and I highly recommend that, the narrator was fantastic and actually had a really soothing tone that helped me fall asleep in the good, this calmed me down way not the bad it was so boring I fell asleep way Will definitely check out the sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow I wanted to write a review of this book, but although I remember liking this book a lot - it had been a while since I read it.

So I re-read it to give it a proper review. This book goes way back into "cave man" era of the hominid species, and touches on Neanderthals, Homo Sapiens, Homo Erectus and a few other extinct species of humanoids. That was pretty interesting, but what I found more interesting were the philosophical themes within the books. Mostly, about how we cooperate as a species and I wanted to write a review of this book, but although I remember liking this book a lot - it had been a while since I read it.

Mostly, about how we cooperate as a species and how that's possible. Cooperation and group living is a key aspect to our evolution and our survival, and it's interesting to see different theories on how that developed. We grew in number at the cost of comfort and ease of living.

It went into how whenever we showed up on a new continent, the flora and fauna of that area suffered greatly.

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We caused several mass extinction events where ever we migrated to, and the most devastated groups were the large mammal species of that area. There used to be giant mammal species like the giant sloth here in the Americas that went extinct in the blink of an eye as soon as we showed up. It also went into how we developed different number systems, language, ancient data storage and ancient vs modern governments and societies. It even went into the philosophical implications of having things like limited liability corporations.

It made me reflect a lot on how far we've come and what it means to live in the era we live in now with mass technology, an overabundance of food - but we still have people starving. We have medicine and vaccines and technically we have the capability of helping people that we simply don't help. This book is accessible to people who don't have a strong background in anthropology or evolution, you don't have to be a scientist to get something from this book. It's also not written in a harsher overtone in regards to religion like some authors of science tend to be cough Richard Dawkins - so if you're religious and want to read about evolution and how we came to be this would be an okay book to pick up.

It doesn't involve creationism it's firmly in the Natural Selection camp - but it doesn't shit on religions either. This book wasn't dry, it definitely kept my attention from beginning to end, and even though I've got a strong background in this sort of thing I still learned a lot, I had forgotten so much since it has been a while since I read it. No doubt, Harari is a wonderful writer and for me the main attraction of the book has been his intuitive writing style.

Whether one agrees to all of Harari's insights about the humankind or not, one will find his perspective and arguments interesting. He has produced several neat thoughts in his writing like when he says, "we did not domesticate wheat. View all 3 comments. This is really a perception-shifting book, at least for me.

It surveys the entire length of human history taking cues from evolutionary theory, anthropology and history itself and in that sense it is very ambitious. It finally dwells into the notions of consumerism and how it has changed the world, along the way giving insights into how nations and religions work, but what really interested me were the beginning chapters concerning our per-historic existence.

So I have nothing better to do I This is really a perception-shifting book, at least for me. So I have nothing better to do I might not even call it a review! It was the one true niche of early humans - to survive on marrow. It sounds natural or normal because we are wired to do it but it was a boon. It made the hands free. One could now wave to a friend, throw stones, or create weapons. They paved the way for the future. But by , years ago East Africa was populated by Homo Sapiens that looked exactly like us. Around 70, years ago some of the Sapiens traveled to Middle East and Eurasia, places that were already populated by Neanderthal, Homo Soloensis, Homo Eractus and other sets of humans.

So at some point in time there were different human species around the world, but currently there is only us - Sapiens. What happened to the others? There are two theories: When they reached China they bred with Homo Eractus, and likewise formed mixed races. This theory is a political dynamite because it states that there might be Neanderthal traits in people from Eurasia or Eractus traits in people from Asia.

So apart from race there is another human division based on human groups. It tells of a genocide in which Sapiens replaced every other group on the planet and we are the part of the victorious group. That's why we have roughly the same DNA. There is an ongoing debate on the above two, with the majority preferring the Replacement Theory. A major advantage over other human groups. Things like who liked whom, who was a braver warrior, who would be likely to run away on the sight of a lion - all of this might have been discussed while they cooked raw meat on fire.

Another boon was being able to convey large amount of information. And most importantly to create fiction - talk about things that didn't really exist. For example, "a lion spirit is guiding our tribe". We are the only species in the animal kingdom that can create fictional ideas. If one dares to expand this though a bit further: These are fictional ideas we have created to align ourselves to order and purpose in life.

Starting from the domestication of fire we catapulted ourselves to the top of the evolutionary hierarchy. We created societies, religions, and all the possible complicated structures. I don't know how true this is. Who knows a band of baboons might finish them off?

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And that's what we continue to do even today. When we open the refrigerator in the middle of the night and see a chocolate cake, the hunter-gatherer in us wants to gorge it all in one go. So there is no deity up there, but the spiritual powers are localized among the trees, rocks, streams, animals and likewise.

There was a time when humans did nothing but worked from morning to night to help wheat grow. Starting in Middle East wheat spread all around the world. It can be said that wheat helped domesticate us.

Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit

It helped keep many more people alive under harsh conditions. The people who created it were probably part of different human bands, all joined together for a singular spiritual purpose. The carvings point to religious symbolism and there is a whiff that the spiritual practices that led to the creation of this site may have been more evolved than we'd like to believe.

Exactly 30 kilometers away from this site there are traces of domesticated wheat, and not the wild wheat that happens on its own. It is believed that wheat was grown around these parts to feed the workers who helped build this site. Interestingly, humans didn't start cultivating wheat in order to make life easier for themselves.

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The switching from gathering wild wheat to purposefully cultivating it at one site did not result from the need to domesticate society but to support the building of such cultural centers or temples. Conventionally, we think that villages were established first and temples came later. This site suggests that that may not be the case. Temples came first, and what they learned by cultivating wheat in one place to support the building of such centers, the obvious advantages of it, brought about domestication.

This is just another way of looking. This is described in great detail here: Without their devices they had to rely on humans for food. We have a history of being cruel. Both to nature and animals, despite what we like to believe about ourselves. A lot of books and documentaries already inform us about how animals are treated by the mighty food industries. An early example is the Code of Hammurabi, written about the virtues of Hammurabi, the just king which he may not be , and provides ways of living in the kingdom.

The Code severed a singular purpose, to sustain order, called "just or correct way of life" by Hammurabi. Not only this but any important political document, say the American Declaration of Independence, or any agreed-upon model of society, is based on imagined realities. We have come a far way from saving ourselves from hungry beats to manipulating reality - to create societies based on fictional ideas. In order to sustain empires, cities, towns, cults Human brain was not evolved to memorize large amount of information so when things like tax collection happened along, relying on brain was not a good idea.

Sumerians reached their first. Some companies have started selling experiences now and not commodities like that scuba-diving or yoga package that will change your life, broaden your senses , something which historians call Romantic Consumerism. They are not objective, but form a network of individuals who commonly believe in a certain version of reality. A subjective change in the perception of one individual hardly changes the imagined reality. The imagined order is challenged only when most present in the network change their views. It doesn't matter if you're not a history nerd, or even if you like history at all, this book gives a very brief overview of what is essentially the history of humankind, so is nowhere near as dense or technical as the usual academic history book.

It contains many points that I believe would be of interest to any reader, no matte 3. It contains many points that I believe would be of interest to any reader, no matter what their broader interests may be. I lost track of the amount of times I thought ohh I can't believe I never thought of that That being said, the first chapter was definitely the strongest, with certain points he made in the following chapters being a bit hit and miss.

I'm inherently sceptical of these non-fiction books that profess to be both factual and entertaining at the same time, and don't like to take their claims at face value. Sinceramente da una casa editrice come la Bompiani e in un libro di questo spessore sono, per quanto mi riguarda, errori poco accettabili. Ich habe mich selten auf ein Sachbuch so sehr gefreut wie auf dieses, denn ich wusste aufgrund zahlreicher Rezensionen: Yuval Noah Harari stellt nicht nur wesentliche Aspekte der Menschwerdung heraus, die mir so bisher nicht bewusst waren, sondern setzt sie in einen direkten Bezug zu unserer Gegenwart.

What we fail to appreciate is that our modern institutions function on exactly the same basis. Dabei kam mir der Gedanke: Ich bin jedoch nicht mit allem einverstanden, was Harari schreibt. Dass er die Massentierhaltung verurteilt, ist mir sehr wichtig. What would that say about the process of decolonisation and the value of national self-determination?

Und diese behagen mir nicht. Er argumentiert, dass der Mensch sich weiterentwickeln wird und dass es sich bei den Personen, die einmal mit Raumschiffen unterwegs sein werden, nicht mehr um den Homo Sapiens handeln wird. Denn entbehrt das Wesen, das Harari hier beschreibt, nicht seiner Menschlichkeit?

As a primer, this is brilliant. Straightforwardly told and by covering such as huge topic in a short format, what we lose in depth certainly gives a really good perspective. It loses pace a bit towards the end - somehow it's more fascinating reading about the origins of man, the development of societies and religions, the exploration of the planet and such than the development and mechanisms of modern economics even if the author places quite much weight on economy and ascribes more effects to As a primer, this is brilliant.

It loses pace a bit towards the end - somehow it's more fascinating reading about the origins of man, the development of societies and religions, the exploration of the planet and such than the development and mechanisms of modern economics even if the author places quite much weight on economy and ascribes more effects to it than what probably immediately comes to mind. Unfortunately, I think that this is one of those books that those who would benefit most from it - in terms of challenging own ideas, views and misconceptions - will probably never go near it.

In a few instances, I jumped - Harari definitely draws own and quite questionable conclusions a few times. A book like this, however, kind of begs to be read with an inquiring mind. Having sparked off so much heat, I guess this book needs no further intro.

So I'll dive into the content directly. Harari Argues that the history is shaped through three major revolutions: The Agricultural Revolution boosted the progress about 12, years ago. The Scientific Revolution, which got under way only years ago, may well end history and start something completely different. History has seen six different species of Having sparked off so much heat, I guess this book needs no further intro. The Cognitive Revolution The appearance of new ways of thinking and communicating, between 70, and 30, years ago, constitutes the Cognitive Revolution. No one knows yet a fluky genetic mutation maybe and more important than its causes, are the consequences of this revolution amongst which, language is a major one.

The truly unique feature of our language is not its ability to transmit information about men and lions. This ability to speak about fictions is the unique and most extraordinary feature of Sapiens language. The Legend of Peugeot: Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths. Any large-scale human cooperation is feasible if everyone believes in a collective set of myths. Peugeot company was the first to introduce the concept of "limited liability company", an entity which resides merely in concepts and imagination.

The Original Affluent Society: Sapiens were hunter gatherers before settling down and they did not forage only for food and materials. They foraged for knowledge as well. It's interesting to note that they used to be taller, healthier than their settler descendants, suffered less from infectious diseases and the secret was their varied diet.

Harari nicely pulls the curtain away and reveals the dark side of the Sapiens, virtually wherever they stepped, they brought genocide and distinction to the locals. Were the Australian extinction an isolated event, we could grant humans the benefit of the doubt. But the historical record makes Homo sapiens look like an ecological serial killer.

The Agricultural Revolution 1. The transition to agriculture began around BC in the hill country of southeastern Turkey, western Iran, and the Levant. The Agricultural Revolution certainly enlarged the sum total of food at the disposal of humankind, but the extra food did not translate into a better diet or more leisure.

Eine kurze Geschichte der Menschheit (Yuval Noah Harari) - Galaxus

Rather, it translated into population explosions and pampered elites. The average farmer worked harder than the average forager and got a worse diet in return. Cultivating wheat provided much more food per unit of territory, and thereby enabled Homo sapiens to multiply exponentially. Just as the economic success of a company is measured only by the number of dollars in its bank account, not by the happiness of its employees, so the evolutionary success of a species is measured by the number of copies of its DNA.

From such a perspective, 1, copies are always better than a hundred copies. This is the essence of the Agricultural Revolution: For me, the most illuminating part of the book was the Sapiens capability of imagining fictions and clinging to them as a reference point which makes cooperation in large-scale possible. Harari argues there are three reasons that prevent people from realizing that the order organizing their lives exists only in their imagination which are: The imagined order is embedded in the material world.

The imagined order shapes our desires. The imagined order is inter-subjective. And this will happen only if these strangers believe in some shared myths. It follows that in order to change an existing imagined order, we must first believe in an alternative imagined order. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. View all 8 comments.

This is one of those books where I really struggled with the rating, and I have been grudgingly generous. There were parts that I really enjoyed and parts that made me quite uncomfortable. Harari has taken the concepts of collective fictions, the purpose of mankind and the implication of our actions, and the limits to growth, and made it accessible in this book. However, he serves some of his ideological and philosophical notions as scientific and that is my real concern.

His ideas are valuable This is one of those books where I really struggled with the rating, and I have been grudgingly generous. His ideas are valuable as philosophy and had he presented them as such this would have been a much more respectable effort. However, the inevitable consequence of writing a macro-history is that you are bound to be wrong in some manner. I'm unsure if one can be any more rigorous when given the amount of imagination involved in writing a sweeping macro-history of mankind. The idea of a collective fiction is the same as that of a social construct.

Naming it thus, however, highlights the notion that any form of unity humans perceive is based on mutable ideas. This is a valuable reminder to evaluate what we have come to accept as a way of life, but is not a sustainable one. These ideas are so deeply ingrained with the daily life that one can't think of fixing the system without also assuming that one would have to turn all that man has achieved so far on its head.

Mankind is going to have to make that attempt if we wish to understand our impact on nature that in turn is impacting the quality of our lives on this planet. The capitalist and consumerist ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interests.

The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha, and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum. In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist—consumerist ideal.

German Translation of “A Short History of Man: Progress and Decline”

In retrospect, what I enjoyed most about this book was the creativity, storytelling, and that it aligned with my world view on several aspects. However, I'm not sure that's a good thing for a work of history. Very interesting and eye opening. Dec 31, S. A Brief History of Humankind Sapiens: That's you, and me, and every other human roaming the surface of Earth "today". Sapiens are, or more accurately were, not they only humans. Did you know that? This book will tell you about the connection of Sapiens with other human species that lived since ancient times, and how Sapiens managed to concur the world and surpass their human counterparts until they ceased to exist.

This glimpse on Sapiens history opened the doors to more and more questions. All those tribes and empires, those religions and ideologies, those concepts and imagined realities: The author defines history as the subsequent development of human cultures that came to be after physics shaped the universe and biology weaved the story of all organisms. The history of Homo Sapiens is outlined by three main revolutions: A The Cognitive Revolution: When Sapiens realized they are different than other species in exploiting the power of "words".

B The Agricultural Revolution: When hunter-gatherers settled to become farmers domesticate plants, and equally the plants domesticated them in return. An vital change of human life style. C The Scientific Revolution: When technology took over the world and the homo sapiens species developed new ideas and evolved in uncountable aspects during an unbelievably short period. A very fascinating tale. The book also discusses future possibilities. We might, with the advanced power we possess, be the salvation of nations or quite possibly, the doom.

Yuval describes so many theories and ideas, of which I am not sure how much has been proved, or how much I actually understood, but they surely opened my eyes to totally new horizons and with that a hunt for a vague knowledge shall begin. At first glance, both books seem quite similar. They tell big stories of how man came to be. However Diamond's work focuses on mostly geography to explain why imperialism had its origins in Europe, whereas Hariri's work looks closely into the history of Homo Sapiens, how we came to rule the world instead of Neanderthals, homo erectus, homo florensis, etc.

My favorite aspect about this book was its structure. Hariri divides the book into 4 big chunks. Please click directly on the incorrect data to access the registration form. Alternatively, you can register a generic error report wrong picture, unsuitable accessories, etc.

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