2022-09-26
Author: Yuval Noah Harari Fiction?: Non-Fiction Format: Paperback Genres: History
Home sapiens - Man Wise
Multiple species of humans inhabited earth contemporaneously at different locations.
The singularity of Homo Sapiens is peculiar.
Neanderthals had bigger brains than us, why are they extinct now?
A culture is a collection of behavior patter caused by (regional) imagined realities.
Compensation for larger, more energy hungry brains are more hunting and atrophied muscles.
Human kind started to walk upright, paid for unparalleled vision and insane dexterity with backaches and stiff necks. Women suffered furthermore, walking upright called for narrower hips, constricting the birth canal, just when heads were getting bigger. As a result, they started giving birth, earlier when heads were smaller (natural selection).
“It takes a tribe to raise a human”
The domestication of fire helped enabled us to stumble upon cooking, allowing Sapiens and Neanderthals to shorten their intestines, decreases the Thermic Effect Of Food (TEF), allowing for more fuel to reach our massive brain more efficiently.
Chapter 2
Theory: Accidental Genetic mutations caused Sapiens’ enhanced cognitive ability.
Language decreased the bandwidth limitation from “Careful!Lion!” to gossiping in extraordinary detail. Which contributes to enhanced large scale cooperation. Language was likely mainly used and is to this day used for gossiping.
Our language is unique in its ability to convey abstraction and fiction.
ONLY NOTES I HAVE TAKEN IN PENCIL:
A company is a legal entity, so is Peugot
Luck/chance + Natural selection = Slow evolution
Goodc climate + constant food = settle down
Has the industrial revolution slowed evolution down by enabling the spread of unremarkable genes?
Forager economy had people doing more interesting work than agriculture. Less fulfilment for more pleasure? no, multi-factorial, eg, comfort
Efficiency comes at the cost of fragility.
Why dont people move? 1.Comfort 2. Sunken Cost Fallacy
Forager times - More =ve, more -ve, less baseline
Was pre-historic infanticide common?
During the hunter-gatherer era polygamy reigned supreme.
Learn to connect dots.
Animism (from “anima”, or ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’ in Latin) is he belief taht almost every place, every animal, every plant and every natural phenomenon has awareness and feeling and can communicate directly with humans. So literal personification?
Are hindus animist towards oak trees?
Modern day foragers (uncontacted tribes) can be matched for/ extrapolated from their ancient counterparts. Multiple variables (modern day authorities preventing large scale battles) come into play.
Pre-history may have been filled with comtemporary wars and peace at different locations on earth.
Humanity’s ability to manipulate our environment and think in the future sets us apart. take advantage of this. Manipulate your environment to form desirable habits.
Sapiens’skill to build and steer boats enabled them to migrate to Australia. Develop skills, they will compound and pay off, eventually.
Pehle: Top of food chain
Abhi: Top of dominance heirarchy
Mammoths bred slowly (long pregnancies and few offspring) and were unable to develop a fear of human beings (we don’t look deadly) and thus were hunted to extinction. We also changed their climate. Attacked them from multiple angles. Be a silent killer, with multiple strategies. The underdog, so to speak.
Why did humans venture to a freezing Siberia? From what we know: Animal protein, which could even be frozen for later consumption.
We have trashed several ecosystems and killed many species to extinction. Will we do the same with the Earth?
First Wave (of extinction)
Humans went to America. Fucked it up: hunter almost everything out of existence. Borke food chain. Then went to Australia, then New Zealand and did the same.
Madagascar and Galepegos faced simiar destinies - Cognitive Revolution
Second Wave (of extinction) : Farming
Thrid Wave (of extinction): industrialization, pollution. This time, killing sea creatures.
We might one day drive planetary extinction.
We rose to the top of the food chain by changing our environment or adapting to it. We can impact our surroundings massively. Use that ability:
Part Two:
IQ is largely genetic and unchanging, even today.
The avg farmer worked harder than the avg forager and recieved a worse diet in return. Wheat and roce have domesticated us, not the other way around.
We are programmed to be a part of a group.
Wheat enabled humans to produce more food per unit of territory and thus, grow exponentially.
Humans observed what occured by chance and replicated what produced favourable outcomes. Eg. Selective breeding: Exploiting natural selection for favourable outcomes
Child Mortality, a snapshot of country’s degree of development (factufulness) was lower in farmer than in foragers.
Do something, analyze, dont dwell.
Write deliberate detailed messages with options/instructions for an answer to save time.
The shit people do for faith. Insane. Paradoxically, I understand going against rational odds.
Chicken won evolution but sacrificed quality of life. Happiness>Evolutionary success
Power of faith and belief systems is underestimated.
Agriculture is the embodiment of sacrificing the present for the future.
take advantage of massive events, you cunning capitalist.
The 3 Cs of friendship: Communication, Cooperation, Copulation
Imagined order and myths are intersubjective, they on work when multiple people believe them.
Romanticism, encourages variety goes will with consumerism. Thus is born the tourism industry, which sells experiences.
“A single priest does the work of a 100 soldiers far more cheaply and effectively”
cooperation is not always voluntary.
the ability to look into the future was a curse for farmer because they could do something about it.
agricultural revolution made us selfish, our territory to my house.
chapter 7:
Use a second brain - Notion, some kind of organizational system
Document ehat is happening
Human brains come eqipped with a large database of nature - river, fruits, vegetables etc, difficult to replicat in AI. This is an issue in the robotics world.
Writing is a data-processing system furst invented by Sumerians.
Make data input intantaneous - Neralink
Brain —>Free associations
Bureaucracy - rigid file cabinet system
Math - the language of computers
Animals have laws and function in heirarchies coded into the genome.
Problem with brain: Limited capacity, Only remembers survival related data, Transfer bandwidth too low. Brain is a compression decompression device - Elon Musk
decriminalisation is not equal to legalization
“Biology enables, culture forbids”
Culture is a group of artificial instincts cuased by regional imagined orders.
A culture’s values are constantly changing
every man-made order is packed with internal contradictions.
A culture tries to amend its contradictions and chnages itself in doing so.
Pehle: christianity vs chivalry. Now: liberty vs equality
Contradictory beliefs are called cognitive dissonance
Multiple small cultures merge into more complex giant ones.
There are no influence free cultures left on earth.
In the first century AD 3 things brought us together
Chapter 10: The Scent Of Money
Pehle: Favours and obligation
Then: barley - biological value, but difficult to store and transport
then: silver - no value - pure imagned value, but had to be wieghed
then: silver coins - all good - mutual trust - value of silver/gold in more regions when trade occurs. Equal weight and stampage reinforces its value
90% world the world’s money is 1s and 0s - bits in banks
Chapter 11: Imperial Visions
“An Empire that cannot sustain a blow and remain stamding is not really an empire.”
Empire qualifications: 1. Rule 3 to 30 nations. 2. Non-concrete bodies 3. Hunger for expansion
Bigger the empire, more similar the culture - some degree of ethnic cleansing;standardisation
It will take 2500 years to form a truly global empire.
If empire falls, order falls, chaos ensues. New empire emerges eg. Hindustan
Kings not only funded armies but art too, eg. Mozart’s commissions
Kings generally look after their subject’s welfare
More imperialism, bigger the cultural meting pot.
We are a product of previous empires, eg, English, chai
Next empire: global, more people are rejecting nationalism and adopting humanity.
Chapter 12: The Law Of Religion
The rise of monotheism raised the value of Gods and Humankind and crushed Animism.
Polytheism: The Omnipotent God is devoid of interests and biases. Therefore men can only deal with partial gods who have biases and interests, such as Ganesha, Laxmi and Saraswati.
The potential for evil in the world is more noticeable than evil itself.
Syncretism: Believing in the Monotheist God, Dualist Devil, Polytheist Saints, Animist ghosts.
Stoicism is a religion.
Superhuman (Theory of Relativity) is not equal to Supernatural (Vampires). Religion is a part of both.
Chapter 13: The Secret Of Success
The Hindsight Fallacy: (Like Duning Kruger Effect) The more you know a historical period the harder it is to explain events and their consequence. The more superficial your knowledge the easir it is to explain it becuase your rely on hindsight heavily. don’t fall for this.
A predictable revolution never erupts.
We study history not to make accurate predictions of the future, but to recognize the width of possible outcomes.
Memes are cultural information units
Cultures are mental parasites that emerge accidentally, and thereafter take advantage of all people infected by them.
More competition, higher the skill for the same rank
“People who make history take unexpected turns.”
Why? : Causation
How? : Process or journey to outcome
Outcomes of history, eg, liberalism are a coincidence as far as we can tell.
Part 4: The Scientific Revolution
Chapter 14: The Discovery Of Ignorance
Power, Resources and research form a feedback loop, the Scientific Revolution’s feedback loop.
Scientific Revolution is the revolution of ignorance
Sociopolitical order is largely non scientific: Declaring a Contrarian scientific practice/theory the final and absolute truth (Communism or Nazism) or Living in accordance with a non- scientific truth (Liberal Humanism the the belief in the unique worth and rights of human beings)\
Set aside money for research - in athletics - training, recovery, nutrition.
Try New Shit: unpowder was an accident, and was used for fireworks for 600 years therafter before being adopted for cannons.
Major leaps in 100 years:
Math enabled invention of statistics which then enabled insurance.
Research is funded due to non-scientific interests such as profit or politics
Bible: Poverty is part of society
Modernity: Eradicating Biological Poverty
Goal of doctors/healthcare industry = immortality.
Chapter 15: The Marriage of Science and Empire
Science is fuelled by economics
Superpowers can be defeated if the local struggle becomes a global cause. Make your struggle a global cause. Show your work. Claim your ignorance.
Capitalism —> Inperialism —> Science
Be careful of invaders
Persian and sanskrit evolved from the same language, What we noe call “The Indo-European language”
Why Europe? Asia lacked the imagined realities and sociopolitical order of Europe.
Chapter 16: The Capitalist Creed
Capitalism created trust in growth, in a better future, giving rise to credit
Free market can result in, interalia, slavery opium addiction
Early history - No credit - economy was frozenand remained so until credit became popular.
Feedback loop: More Credit —>More business —> More profit —> more lending
Businesses create jobs
BANKS ARE GENIUS
I earn, i pay you, you buy my product, I earn - feedback loop
More invention, more tech, more economic growth, higher standard of living.
Give loans, don’t take them.
Government’s job is to ensure fairness in the market
Monopoly causes death of competition and unfair wealth distribution.
Chaper 17: The Wheels of Industry
Jumping pot lids silently showed humanity the power on converting energy. Humans did not realize this for a long time
“The only limit is set by our ignorance”
Industrial Revolution = Second Agricultural Revolution? Agriculture was largely mechanised. fertiliser was invented, poultry and cattle farming came into picture.
Killing imperfect chicken is fuelled by indifference not hatred. I feel like indifference is the opposite of love.
Children need an emotional bond.
More energy used, more innovation to harvest energy, more energy available, feedback loop.
Pehle: Sun —> Plant —> Muscle
We consume 90 mins of energy sun gives to the Earth’s surface. Better Energy harvesting protocols needed.
Pehle 90% farms, now 2%
Obesity is good for the economy: buy food AND diet products
Chapter 18: A Permanent Revolution
Public tranportation was crucial in the mass adoption of Precise timetables.
Previously, family was the most important unit. Thus, welfare systems did not exist.
Most Empires were little more than protection rackets.
Empires broke the forces of family and community via individualism. Cannot refuse individualism.
Individualism has now rendered women not the property of their family
Individuals may be exploited by markets, or prosecute them, yet individualism stands too compelling.
Individualism and our deep need of tribal bonds have given rise to Imagined communities: A community in which members do not know each but think they do. Usually have a common interest that unites them, eg, MTBers.
Real peace is not the mere absence of war. Real peace is the implausibility of war.
Nulclear weapons have turned war into collective suicide, killing domination by force of arms. War is no longer profitable.
Industrial revolution enabled specialization and division of labour
Economy of favours to free market
Chapter 19: They Lived Happily Ever After
Expect nothing, appreciate everything, have a good marriage = happiness formula
Happiness is looking back at a meaningful life.
“If you have a why, can bear almost any how”
Buddhism —> Stop craving Pleasure —> Happiness (In line with my food habits)
Happy hormones —>oxytocin (wifi hormone), dopamine, serotonin
Pleasure is not equal to happiness
more choice results in lower commitment
expectation is MASSIVe in serotonin release
Natiral selection uses happy hormones to get us to reproduce.
Bliss is not equal to happiness
Biologically, life is meaningless
Any meaning associated to evolution is meaningless.
Happiness is mutating, society’s delusion is my delusion.
Chapter 20: The End Of Homo Sapiens
Pehle: Natural selection
Now: Intelligent design
Shit (E. coli) can now be genetically engineered to produce biofuel or insulin
Geneteic engineering may turn Homo Sapiens to something else altogether - A Second Cognitive Revolution?
Patents on DNA Sequences?
Emotional singularity - Nirvana?
The real question facing us is not “what do we want to become?”, but ” What do we want to want?”
Glossary:
coalesce :come together to form one mass or whole; gather
inclement: (of the weather) unpleasantly cold or wet.
salient: most noticeable or important
vociferously: in a loud and forceful manner.
chimeras: A chimera is essentially a single organism that’s made up of cells from two or more “individuals”—that is, it contains two sets of DNA, with the code to make two separate organisms. One way that chimeras can happen naturally in humans is that a fetus can absorb its twin.
Books Mentioned
The Siege Of Numantia
Das Kapital
Mein Kampf
The New Instrument
The Wealth Of Nations
Brave New World
Frankenstein