The Cognitive Revolution

Harari thinks that 70,000 years ago, a random genetic mutation then enabled Sapiens to suddenly evolve new cognitive capacities. He calls this the Cognitive Revolution. Harari notes that animals in nature can only respond to physical phenomena, but Sapiens learned how to make up fictional ideas and believe in things that aren’t actually in the physical world. He gives the modern example of the car brand Peugeot, which exists as more of an idea than a thing. Thousands of people rally around the idea of Peugeot—to make cars and work for the company. They effectively cooperate because of their shared belief in the Peugeot brand. Harari thinks such “imagined realities” have immense power.

An Animal of No Significance

Before “revolutions,” human-like animals roamed the planet for 2.5 million years. Their social relations resembled ours today. Yet, they were insignificant animals, like all others on Earth. Read more

The Tree of Knowledge

Around 70,000 years ago, Sapiens “started doing extraordinary things.” They invented “boats, oil lamps, bows and arrows.” The earliest pieces of “art, religion, commerce, and social stratification” also date back to this time period Read more

A Day in the Life of Adam and Eve

Many theorists debate over the “natural way of life” in ancient Sapiens hunter-gatherer societies. However, Harari thinks that there’s no such thing. He argues that—like modern societies—ancient Sapiens’ lifestyles were very ethnically and culturally diverse Read more

The Flood

After the Cognitive Revolution, Sapiens learned how to build boats, and they began exploring farther into the planet’s ecosystems. Within a few thousand years, many of Australia’s marsupial species were extinct Read more

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