
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

In order to manage a war, you surely need stamina, but not much physical strength or aggressiveness. Wars are not a pub brawl. They are very complex projects that require an extraordinary degree of organisation, cooperation and appeasement.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
would have said the same about his principle of hierarchy, and Thomas Jefferson about human rights. Homo sapiens has no natural rights, just as spiders, hyenas and chimpanzees have no natural rights. But don’t tell that to our servants, lest they murder us at night.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The immense diversity of imagined realities that Sapiens invented, and the resulting diversity of behaviour patterns, are the main components of what we call ‘cultures’.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Belief in heaven (the realm of the good god) and hell (the realm of the evil god) was also dualist in origin. There is no trace of this belief in the Old Testament, which also never claims that the souls of people continue to live after the death of the body.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
People were unable to fathom the full consequences of their decisions.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
tribe believe that holy spirits live on the moon. I
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The average ancient forager could turn a flint stone into a spear point within minutes.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
According to the Interbreeding Theory, when Sapiens spread into Neanderthal lands, Sapiens bred with Neanderthals until the two populations merged. If this is the case, then today’s Eurasians are not pure Sapiens. They are a mixture of Sapiens and Neanderthals.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Ever since the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens have thus been living in a dual reality. On the one hand, the objective reality of rivers, trees and lions; and on the other hand, the imagined reality of gods, nations and corporations. As time went by, the imagined reality became ever more powerful, so that today the very survival of rivers, trees and
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