Veena’s Reviews > Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind > Status Update

I thought the book is important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens. But I have a few reservations. I found most thought-provoking aspect of “Sapiens” is the author’s questioning of whether historical revolutions have any implication for human happiness. His answer is that the evolutionary success of our species, along with the technological powers we’ve gained, has brought much individual suffering. A case in point, he said is the Agricultural Revolution, which kept many more people alive under much worse conditions. And the Scientific Revolution has arguably given a Chinese factory worker today a harder life than his hunter-gatherer ancestors had. He concludes, history’s successful revolutions disregard the well-being of individuals. I think contrary to the author assertion that history may be at odds with individual happiness, advancement through the Agrarian , Scientific and Industrial revolutions enabled individuals to toil less, produce more and provide humans with more leisurely time than the hunters and gatherers who had to work on their feet during most daylight hours. In addition advancement in science enabled humanity to combat disease and live a more comfortable, longer and healthier lives. Technological developments relieved individual from strenuous hard labor and in the future the use of robots and advances in Artificial Intelligence will contribute to happier life