👓 Sapiens | Adactio

Replied to Sapiens by Jeremy Keith (adactio.com)

I finally got around to reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s one of those books that I kept hearing about from smart people whose opinions I respect. But I have to say, my reaction to the book reminded me of when I read Matt Ridley’s The Rational Optimist: It was an exasperating read.

I’ve had this book and his others on my list for quite a while, but I’ve been worried that they may fall short like this. I’ve started his most recent one in the past few weeks prior to it’s release this weekend. Jeremy’s review makes me even more reticent.

Perhaps it’s better to stick with the better sourced materials within the topic of “big history” by David Christian and others?