Yuval Harari, Sapiens

ABOUT SAPIENS

In his book Sapiens, Yuval Harari develops a theory to understand the human evolution through its capacity to collaborate in large numbers. He says that humans are the only mammals capable of this. But, for this cooperation to take place there must be a story to unite the forces of man; his brain capacity as well as his muscles.

He puts it all on this account. He calls them here and there imagined realities. And such they are but Harari is somewhat superficial in his suggestion that one day the hunter gatherer woke up and decided to form large communities and thought oh well, the story seems to have all that it takes to keep this communities together and to make them not only functional but also productive.

I consider that this is a bit like looking at a complex matter from afar without seeing the details. All that he says about the power of imagined realities of holding communities together and making them functional, is true, but the appearance of such stories I do not think it is the solely attribute of hunter gatherer or the Agricultural revolution. These stories pre-existed, and they made it possible the development of mankind.