4 ms·

Serious question and would love to better my understanding : why do you say so? Any sources?

leobg 5y ago
David Graeber says something about this in “The Dawn Of Everything”. I’d suggest reading both books. One for the scaffolding and the other for color.
pas 5y ago
https://www.writemypapers.org/examples-and-samples/5-errors-in-sapiens-a-brief-history-of-humankind-book-review.html https://www.writemypapers.org/examples-and-samples/5-errors-...
digianarchist 5y ago
There are some really questionable claims from both an anthropological and political perspective. John Sexton's summary mirrors my own opinion: > The book is fundamentally unserious and undeserving of the wide acclaim and attention it has been receiving. But it is worth considering the book’s blind spots and flaws — the better to understand the weaknesses of the genre and the intellectual temptations of our age. [0] [0] https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-history-of-humankind https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-h... Intellectual temptations is our contemporary desire for condensed information from a single source.
- vertak 5y ago
  Thank you for sharing a counterpoint. IMO this act of skepticism is the most important trait of the HN culture. That being said, I read through the counterpoint article and found it pretty hollow. In fact it seems to strengthen my belief that Sapiens is a valuable book. I kept expecting the author to point out where Harari’s assertions were wrong, but each section more or less boiled down to Harari is either not funny or not clever. The author even contradicts his article’s own thesis partway through: “Nonetheless, his version of human history involves moral judgments that suggest he is not so thoroughly reductionist, or as cynical about the human condition, as he appears to be at first glance.“ +1 for Harari

David Graeber says something about this in “The Dawn Of Everything”. I’d suggest reading both books. One for the scaffolding and the other for color.

pas 5y ago

https://www.writemypapers.org/examples-and-samples/5-errors-in-sapiens-a-brief-history-of-humankind-book-review.html https://www.writemypapers.org/examples-and-samples/5-errors-...

digianarchist 5y ago

There are some really questionable claims from both an anthropological and political perspective. John Sexton's summary mirrors my own opinion: > The book is fundamentally unserious and undeserving of the wide acclaim and attention it has been receiving. But it is worth considering the book’s blind spots and flaws — the better to understand the weaknesses of the genre and the intellectual temptations of our age. [0] [0] https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-history-of-humankind https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/a-reductionist-h... Intellectual temptations is our contemporary desire for condensed information from a single source.

vertak 5y ago
Thank you for sharing a counterpoint. IMO this act of skepticism is the most important trait of the HN culture. That being said, I read through the counterpoint article and found it pretty hollow. In fact it seems to strengthen my belief that Sapiens is a valuable book. I kept expecting the author to point out where Harari’s assertions were wrong, but each section more or less boiled down to Harari is either not funny or not clever. The author even contradicts his article’s own thesis partway through: “Nonetheless, his version of human history involves moral judgments that suggest he is not so thoroughly reductionist, or as cynical about the human condition, as he appears to be at first glance.“ +1 for Harari