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When you put a name on a door, or hang a painting on a wall, you are, in dog or wolf terms, for example, simply cocking your leg on them and leaving your personal mark there.
“Humans see patterns in the world, we can communicate this to other humans, and we have the capacity to imagine futures that don’t yet exist: how if we just changed this thing, then that thing would happen, and the world would be a slightly better place. The only trouble is … well, we’re not terribly good at any of those things. Any honest assessment of humanity’s previous performance on those fronts reads like a particularly brutal annual review from a boss who hates you. We imagine patterns where they don’t exist. Our communication skills are, uh, sometimes lacking. And we have an extraordinarily poor track record of failing to realise that changing this thing will also lead to the other thing, and that even worse thing, and oh God no now this thing is happening how do we stop it.”
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
“Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production, we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny.”
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
“When a thousand people believe some made-up story for one month, that’s fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years, that’s a religion, and we are admonished not to call it “fake news” in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful (or incur their wrath). Note, however, that I am not denying the effectiveness or potential benevolence of religion. Just the opposite. For better or worse, fiction is among the most effective tools in humanity’s tool kit. By bringing people together, religious creeds make large-scale human cooperation possible. They inspire people to build hospitals, schools, and bridges in addition to armies and prisons. Adam and Eve never existed, but Chartres Cathedral is still beautiful.”
― 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
― 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
“More people were killed by lawnmowers than by terrorism in the USA in the decade between 2007 and 2017, but at the time of writing, the US government has yet to launch a War on Lawnmowers. (Although, let’s be honest, given recent events you wouldn’t rule it out.)”
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
“That man-made climate change is real, and potentially an existential threat to many communities around the world and many aspects of civilisation, is so well established as a scientific fact by this point that it seems kind of dull to run over the evidence again.”
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
― Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up
Our Shared Shelf
— 223245 members
— last activity Dec 16, 2025 12:22AM
OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
The American Novel Since 1945
— 321 members
— last activity Oct 16, 2025 01:22PM
Yale posted a series of lectures entitled, "The American Novel Since 1945." This group will follow this lecture series. Your Host: Lisa of Troy (htt ...more
HORROR or HEAVEN
— 746 members
— last activity 21 minutes ago
Welcome to Horror or Heaven, a reading group combining horror, science fiction, thrillers, mystery and more. Dig yourself a grave and explore the d ...more
Tanja’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Tanja’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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