Sapiens

published

2016-06-27

rating

4

This book talked about the human ability to collectively believe in ideas that are not necessarily true, but have important implications for society. For example, believing that fiat money has value is only true because so many other people believe it, but it is not objectively true because it would not have value under other circumstances. I liked how this book talked about how the imperialism and capitalism basically steamrolled the planet, crushing many resistant societies in the process. The book had an interesting perspective that emphasized that many successful ideas were not the best ideas for the benefit of the people; happy tribes were forced to try to conform to capitalist society and basically became depressed. I would have liked it if the book focused on this topic more, but instead it dabbles in a variety of ideas that are very loosely tied by the theme of things that humans construct with their minds.