What does it mean to be human?
This question has both puzzled and inspired writers, musicians, artists, philosophers, and thinkers throughout history.
In Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, the first of a series of influential works, historian and public intellectual Yuval Noah Harari shines a bright light into humanity’s past, illuminating questions that cast long shadows across our curiosity.
Utilizing history and archaeology—and following the evidence wherever it leads—Harari dives deeply into the story of our species. Beginning with the early history of the universe and the emergence of both ancient and modern humans, Sapiens (first published a decade ago) traces the development of humanity through survival, adaptation, culture, belief, and legacy.
At a time in history when so much attention is given to highlighting difference and division, I find it refreshing to see Harari present a counterbalance. His work emphasizes our shared origins and reminds us of the deep roots that connect the human family.
Building on humanity’s remarkable achievements (particularly the leaps forward during the cognitive, agricultural, and scientific revolutions) Harari advances an illuminating idea: one of the most powerful abilities humans possess is the capacity to create and believe in shared stories.
Collective beliefs, myths, and the meaning we attach to symbols and systems helped enable large-scale cooperation. Concepts such as nations, money, ethics, religion, laws, and human rights are examples of shared ideas that allowed societies to grow, cooperate, and expand, though not without conflict or cost.
In a very real sense, the meanings we attach to common struggles, aspirations, triumphs, and our desire for understanding helped create a shared ground of human experience.
Looking back across human history through Harari’s lens, it appears that many of our greatest leaps forward emerged from a combination of wonder and humility. New observations, new adaptations (such as the shift to agriculture and new methods of inquiry) and systematic approaches to understanding our world all helped propel humanity forward. The principles that later guided the scientific revolution represent one of the clearest examples of this mindset.
Imagine the humility required for someone in the past to say: “Even if I am mistaken in my understanding, I want to know… and know why.”
At times when understanding reality may have seemed like an uphill climb, the pursuit of knowledge still moved forward.
Harari’s balance between evidence and meaning is both eloquent and timely. While firmly grounded in what scientific evidence reveals about our shared history, he also recognizes the role that ideas, philosophy, and meaning play in shaping human systems, cultures, and patterns of understanding.
A simple but powerful example of shared belief shaping reality is money.
Currency functions because people collectively agree that pieces of paper, coins, or digital numbers hold value. The shared meaning attached to money allowed humans to develop systems of earning, saving, trading, purchasing, and economic cooperation.
Yet progress is rarely simple. Like most developments in human history, it brings both benefits and challenges.
I greatly enjoyed this book.
We live in a strange moment in our collective story, where the idea of a single human family often fades into the fog of tribalism—nationalism, politics, religion, language, region, and countless other dividing lines.
Us and them.
Our people and your people.
The way instead of a way.
Perhaps literature such as Sapiens serves as a mirror, reminding us that we share the same roots, the same humble beginnings, and the same human story.
That does not mean beliefs, metaphysics, exploration, or myths lack value. If science reveals how the world works, ideas and guiding philosophies help us learn how to walk through it. Together they can become a source of wisdom.
And wisdom is something our world needs today—and will likely need even more tomorrow.
As technologies such as artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and cybernetic enhancements advance, the very definition of what it means to be human may begin to shift.
If that happens, one thing seems likely: humanity will face it together—just as we always have.
Penguin Random House Canada, 512pp., $23
