value. But I don’t think so. I think the great thing about this book is not the great knowledge it provides, nor the unprecedented viewpoints it expresses, but the fact that it uses vivid and readable words and is well-founded. , with a grand perspective, it systematically expounds the past and present of mankind, and also looks forward to the future. It also describes the history of finance, religion, etc. The most important thing is that all these contents, as well as the views the author tries to put forward, are logically self-consistent rather than rigidly preaching. As for the information fallacy in it? I haven’t found anyone who has clearly stated it so far, because the author does all quote from scriptures. Come on, you can disagree with the views he puts forward, but you can't refute the information he describes. In short, the value, or highlights, provided by this book are: 1. Interesting knowledge points; 2. Holistic and systematic nature. So I don't think this is an "Internet celebrity" book, because it's not easy to do just one thing. If you can combine the two, it will definitely become a classic.
"A Brief History of Humanity" Excellent Reading Review Chapter 2 The book introduces the development history from the birth of human beings to the present, including several stages such as cognitive revolution, agricultural revolution, human integration, scientific revolution, etc., as well as each major The impact of change on humanity. Interested students can read it and gain another understanding of the world. Just write whatever you want in the following content! With the development of human history, human beings have gradually increased their impact on nature, and the laws of nature may change because of human beings. At the same time, the development of human beings is becoming more and more uncertain. Will they be replaced by other creatures? Or will they be destroyed by war? Or will they be enslaved by something created by human beings? There are more and more types of technology, and which ones are human beings? What evolution really needs. Is the development of science and technology for money? Or to improve human life? The living space of human beings has evolved from small ethnic groups to the "global village". With the expansion of the scope of activities and the broadening of horizons, we can find people with the same hobbies around the world, but we are embracing the spirit. When thinking about the imaginary "community", they are also alienated from the actual "community" around them. Will the imaginary "community" make us less lonely than the actual "community"? It is more "safe" than ever before, there is no need to worry about being eaten by wild beasts, and wars only ignite in a few areas. In particular, there may not have been a dynasty in Chinese history that was as safe and "free" as it is now. When it comes to freedom, freedom and equality are inherently contradictory opposites. Individual freedom and human equality seem to be irresolvable from the beginning of the agricultural revolution. And we have never been able to freely choose our beliefs like now. A capitalist, a Buddhist, a Hui Muslim, a communist, a cynic. Now it seems that these people sitting together to eat will not make them happy. People think there is something wrong, but looking back on the past, not to mention the Crusades in medieval Europe, even in the last century, this scene may be unimaginable. What we are facing now may not be a conflict between beliefs, but more of not knowing what we believe. History has passed, but the future can be expected. Cherish the present.
"A Brief History of Humankind" Excellent Reading Review Chapter 3 The author of "A Brief History of Humanity" believes that the scientific revolution is not a "revolution of knowledge", but a "revolution of ignorance". The great discovery that really started the scientific revolution is Discovered that "humanity knows nothing about important questions." This admission of ignorance, centering on observation and mathematics, and acquiring new abilities is the feedback loop of the entire scientific revolution. The reason why scientific research is funded is mostly for political, economic and religious purposes. Over the past 500 years, the feedback loop between science, empire and capital has undoubtedly been the main engine driving historical evolution. The Agricultural Revolution is not so much that humans have domesticated crops, but rather that crops have utilized humans and domesticated humans, because crops can survive without humans, but in turn, humans can no longer live without crops.
The same is true for the scientific and technological revolution. Will technology still exist without human beings? I don’t know this, but I know that human beings can no longer live without technology. All the achievements of the agricultural revolution and the scientific and technological revolution have completely penetrated into human life. Human beings can only move forward and cannot go back. If one day, technology can exist without humans like crops. I wonder, have crops and technology used humans to occupy this planet, or have humans taken control of this planet? Ten thousand years ago, wheat was just an unknown weed growing in the Middle East. After being spread by humans, it became In just 10,000 years, it has spread to every corner of the earth. Without the spread of humans, wheat would not have grown as widely as it does today. Similarly, other crops have followed humans to take root in places they have never been before. germination. The same goes for technology. When every technological product came out, a hundred years ago, there were still many places on the earth without electricity, and it was basically pitch black at night. Nowadays, most of the places where humans live have electricity, and various technological products have traveled around the world with humans. Don't you think this phenomenon is similar to crops? They all used humans to occupy this planet. With the development of science and technology, the future evolution of human beings may depend on machines (this includes artificial intelligence, neural control machines, various other bionic devices, etc.), or it may be possible through genetic modification to allow human evolution to reach levels we cannot imagine. Of course, it is also possible that artificial intelligence will develop to the point where it can control humans. But in any case, we cannot stop the pace of scientific and technological progress. The only thing we can do is to make full use of the benefits that technology brings to us, and at the same time, we must strictly guard against its technological power that may bring a devastating blow to mankind.
"A Brief History of Humanity" Excellent Reading Review Chapter 4 As time goes by, the progress of science and the budding development of capitalism represent the decline and disappearance of European feudal society, serfdom, and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. After experiencing the crisis in the late Middle Ages, it began to enter modern times. The Renaissance movement began to rise in the mid-14th century. This ideological liberation movement that lasted for nearly 300 years opposed the "theocratic supremacy" of the church. By reviving classical culture and opposing theology and other feudal backward ideas, it began to gradually liberate people's bound minds. . People not only listen to the orders of the pope and emperor, but also hope to "express" their own thinking. Therefore, the Renaissance is also called the Age of Expression, which laid the ideological foundation for the emergence of capitalism. Subsequently, the disastrous Thirty Years' War (also known as the Religious War) in the 16th century promoted the establishment of European nation-states. The United Kingdom, the United States, and France successively carried out bourgeois revolutions, overthrew the feudal autocratic rule, and established the rule of the bourgeoisie. . Modern Europe was also an era of rapid progress in science and technology. The great geographical discoveries made Europeans no longer satisfied with the European continent and began to move towards the world. Some European countries began to carry out colonial expansion, and economic trade and science and technology prospered rapidly, reaching a climax in the Industrial Revolution. Colonial expansion promoted the formation of the world economic system, but it also inspired various conflicts and wars. People began to devote themselves to creating a beautiful and peaceful new world. The barbarism and unique art of ancient people, the feudal thoughts of the Middle Ages, and the rapid development of modern European and American countries. These histories seem strange to us now, but everyone must understand them. Because people in every period will be subject to limitations and move towards their own immediate interests, or even close themselves off and be satisfied with the present. The author once quoted a Frenchman in the last chapter: "The best helpers in people's lives are sarcasm and sympathy. The smile caused by sarcasm will make our life full of sunshine, and the crying caused by sympathy will make our life cleaner and flawless." "When we walk into the entire history of human development, we may ridicule those who are ignorant and superstitious, and sympathize with those who have encountered misfortune. At the same time, everyone will have a longer-term and deeper reflection. Everything history shows us can become the most valuable lessons in our lives.
"A Brief History of Humanity" Excellent Reading Review Chapter 5 For happiness, everyone has a different explanation: perhaps, happiness lies in the pursuit of happiness; perhaps, happiness lies in having goals, ideals, and striving for perfection. But in the book "A Brief History of Humankind", I found its true meaning! Now many people only look at our superficial development, but do not delve into it: Are we really happier than our ancestors? "A Brief History of Humanity" "History" tells the 70,000-year evolutionary history of Homo sapiens.
In fact, since the cognitive revolution, we have been living in an illusory and illusory world. The so-called money, empire, and religion all come from human imagination. These imaginations have enabled us to develop, but they have also made human ambitions more and more inflated, and then jumped into the abyss of desire, unable to extricate ourselves. Desire will not only bring pressure and pain to people, but may also cause the extinction of mankind! Confucius said: Wealth and honor to me are like floating clouds. In my opinion, why do we need to constrain ourselves because of fame and fortune and force us to work hard all our lives? What we lack is just a contentment mentality. The book writes: "Now the Egyptian people have a more complete medical system and more comfortable houses than their ancestors, but there are still many people complaining about the poverty of life and the injustice of fate." The reason is that they have an eternal heart. An unsatisfied heart keeps putting unnecessary pressure on oneself. In fact, we must not only learn to be satisfied, but also seek authenticity and be our true selves! We don’t need to be happy about success, let alone sad about setbacks, which will only consume our minds. We don't need to pursue those subjective feelings at all. Over time, your mind will become clear and clear, not polluted by the noisy outside world, nor affected by the so-called "pleasure", and naturally there will be no pain at all. Happiness is contentment; happiness is watching flowers bloom and fall, smiling at clouds rolling in and out; happiness is seeking authenticity and being one’s true self!
"A Brief History of Humanity" Excellent Reading Review 6 Recent Readings I read "A Brief History of Humankind", in which the evolution of early Homo sapiens touched me deeply, especially in the section about the cognitive revolution. Early Homo sapiens could defeat powerful creatures in nature and defeat different human groups at the same time, relying on cooperation between groups. This cooperation is deeply embedded in human DNA. From the beginning of lions by the river, to gossip, to the final fictional story, early Homo sapiens embarked on an evolutionary path to the culmination that was different from DNA evolution. This is so similar to the visible knowledge and knowable knowledge in Plato's "Utopia". The idea that the soul turns to faces is not a virtual creation of a group of people. The completely different behavior between us and thousands of chimpanzees in the venue is not because we are disciplined and restrained, but because of some kind of virtual existence hidden deep in our spirits, and we believe in it and sometimes call it For faith, sometimes it is principles, sometimes it is morality. Fundamentally speaking, it is actually a virtual story rooted in the process of human evolution. Due to the above understanding, our education itself has a new orientation. Do we turn education into a kind of management or guidance? Should we trust children and wait for them to grow, or should we use tough rules and regulations to constantly regulate their growth? In my opinion, if we choose the first option, then our children may fall into the vortex of authoritarianism like the children in "The Wave". Although they are obedient and disciplined, it is only temporary. In many cases, Years later, they will still return to their original disordered state and hate their past teachers. Only through true practice can our moral education play a real role, deeply enter the minds of children, let children have true beliefs, awaken the morality sleeping in their hearts, be able to grow by themselves, abide by the rules, and be influenced by nature. Guidance and continuous growth! This is what our education should really stick to.
"A Brief History of Humanity" Excellent Review Chapter 7 The author of this work is Israeli historian Val Herari. This book tells the story from Darwin's theory of evolution, from the cognitive revolution to the From the agricultural revolution to the scientific revolution, existing species have evolved over several years, and humans have already evolved to the top of the biological chain. With the rapid development of science, the scientific and technological revolution has turned something that was considered impossible many years ago into possible, just like the author's last chapter? C. The end of Homo sapiens, will powerful technology cause human beings to encounter difficulties in a few years? Crisis? What thoughts will this bring us? Modern science and technology has developed extremely rapidly. Cutting-edge technologies such as bioengineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and aerospace are now at a very mature stage. Cloning sheep has been carried out for decades. Nowadays, human bionic organs can be made; the computing speed of super-large computers decades ago is far less than that of an ordinary mobile phone; many diseases that were previously considered incurable now have specific medicines; in recent years, many Fire’s artificial intelligence also allows us to enjoy convenience. While enjoying the dividends of the technological revolution, we are gradually being enslaved by them.
We use mobile phones to hail taxis when we go out, and use mobile phones to order takeaways. Mobile phones were originally the tool for us to make calls. With the intelligence of mobile phones and the upgrade of Internet speed, we can no longer do without mobile phones, whether it is in the subway, restaurant, bathroom, or even driving. People are looking at their mobile phones all the time, which has caused harm to society. Some experts predict that humans will become hunchbacked in a few hundred years due to the existence of mobile phones. Many years ago, some people worried about whether robots would really control humans in the near future. When they truly learned how humans think, it was still unknown. Reading history allows us to remember the past, remember the setbacks we experienced, and use the valuable experience accumulated to develop, but we also need to keep a clear mind at all times.
"A Brief History of Humankind" Excellent Review Chapter 8 "A Brief History of Humanity" is not a simple book. It is a very famous book all over the world. It has been translated into many, many versions, from Stone Tools The Times tells the story of the evolution of Homo sapiens up to the present, and analyzes human beings from all aspects. I think as human beings, we all need to read this book. I think it is an understanding of ourselves and a self-reflection for human beings. I recommend everyone to read it. Human beings are nothing special. We have evolved for so long, and many people still think that we are the most special people in the whole world, that we are the smartest and unique, but from an evolutionary perspective, this is not the case. At present, the only human race we have survived in the modern world is Homo sapiens. But in addition to Homo sapiens, there were many other human species before, just like other animals, such as pigs. There are pigs in the United States and pigs in China. There are local pigs, wild boars and so on. The same goes for us humans. According to statistics, there are countless human species that have survived in history. We humans did not evolve in a straight line, such as first from Homo erectus to Homo neanderthalensis, and then to Homo sapiens, but at the same time. There are many races that exist at the same time. Among them, the Neanderthals are the closest to us Homo sapiens. Their brain capacity is higher than ours, and their cold resistance and body shape are better than that of Homo sapiens. But why are there only one Homo sapiens left now? What? Tolerance is not a characteristic of Homo sapiens. Our ancestors have the same selfish genes as us. They think that we are unique creatures in the world, so they drive all other human races to extinction. Only a very small part joins the Homo sapiens group. Homo sapiens has become too accustomed to being unique in the past 30,000 years. Unlike other animals, we have always believed that we are the ultimate creator. This is why some people got furious when Darwin suggested that we, Homo sapiens, were actually another kind of animal. That's why we only have one species of human beings now. This is our selfish gene, the reason why we are narcissistic. But there is a price to pay for becoming such a smart creature. Human brain capacity is the largest among all species. Modern Homo sapiens can reach 1200~1400 cubic centimeters, but it consumes 25% of the body's energy. Compared with other apes, Only 8%. That's not to mention other animals, even less. Such a smart brain and brain capacity are only exchanged for muscle shrinkage and more energy consumption, so to a certain extent, the view that a simple mind leads to strong limbs is correct. For example, a gorilla may fail you in the SAT in a competition with you, but it can tear you into pieces in a matter of seconds. So are such choices and strategies good or bad? No one knows. Because we have such smart minds, the final result is that the entire world's ecology will pay a heavy price because of Homo sapiens' intelligence and arrogance. In biology, there is a concept called "species invasion", which is to bring organisms from different ecosystems to other places, such as bullfrogs in the Americas and pythons in Australia. Because they have no natural enemies and sufficient food, they multiply in large numbers and destroy the local area. ecosystem. The human race originated in Africa, but as the times progressed, Homo sapiens migrated to various continents, causing irreparable damage to the ecological balance of those areas. So are we also "invasive species" to some extent? ? To give some examples, Australia was the first victim of Homo sapiens. At that time, Australia had a different ecological chain from many other continents, and there were also many different giant species, such as diprotodons, marsupial lions, giant lizards, etc. They became extinct one after another, and the time of their extinction happened to be the time when humans landed in Australia.
Although some people will exonerate Homo sapiens and say that this is due to climate change, the proliferation of surrounding marine life and the coincidental timing have overturned this theory and statement. There are three main reasons for the extinction of giant animals. The first is that they have relaxed their attitude toward humans. They must be vigilant. A small ape has no sharp teeth or sharp teeth, so it will naturally not pose a threat to them. Another thing is that Homo sapiens has mastered the use of fire, burning shrubs and trees, leaving grass to attract these giants. beast, the last reason is that the reproduction rate of these giant beasts is very slow, the gestation time is long, there are not many pregnancies, and the intervals are long. Even if humans only kill one diprotodon in a few months, they will slowly become extinct in thousands of years. . So if Homo sapiens did not land in Australia, then we can be sure that the giant creatures there will not become extinct. The same situation happened in the Americas. Mammoths, reindeer, rhinoceros, giant ground sloths and saber-toothed tigers were all brutally killed, and the time when they became extinct was also the time when humans first landed on those continents. These situations not only happened in the Americas and Australia, The same thing happened in many other areas, and the Arctic of Madagascar was not spared. We humans are still destroying the earth step by step. If we had not invaded other continents, those giant creatures would not have become extinct. Today's severe industrialization and over-exploitation are destroying the earth step by step, and many species are on the verge of extinction. So this is why I say that this book is more like a book of human introspection. We have caused so much damage to the entire ecology and the earth because of our selfishness and survival. We should feel guilty, and at the same time be grateful that the entire earth has provided us with resources. The biggest gain for me after reading this part is that great wisdom can be compared to foolishness. Human beings are too smart, which has led to the evolution of this wisdom into disasters. On the contrary, those animals with small brain capacity do not have such a big impact on the earth. When we abuse our advantages, we also hurt a lot and take away a lot. After reading A Brief History of Humanity, I think humans should take more care of our earth and ecology. Please think more about our ecology and the earth, cherish it and take care of it. Put aside your selfish thoughts, we are actually no different from other animals, we are also part of the earth.
Excellent review of "A Brief History of Humanity" Chapter 9 I joined a reading group at the beginning of this year and set myself a goal for one year - to read 11 books, and the reward for myself was to buy a piano. "A Brief History of Humankind" is the first book I read this year. The ideas in the book are indeed worthy of careful consideration. At first, my colleague and I discussed whether mules born from a horse and a donkey could reproduce, and my colleague recommended this book to me. I have read this book off and on this month. There are many thought-provoking ideas in the book. From the era of Homo sapiens to agricultural society to industrial society, is this series of changes development or regression? Many concepts today, such as money, companies, countries, time, etc., are formed by human association and through common trust. Existence does not exist objectively. Does that mean that we are all living in an illusion? Today's society is developing much faster than before in terms of economy and technology, but are people now happier than people in the past? What will the future world be like? Will it become a superhuman world? Will people still be "human" then? These questions arise one after another, and my heart trembles. It seems that everything I identify with and trust should be meaningless in the author's opinion. So what is the meaning of human existence? What is the meaning of my short life? Regarding happiness, the article also gives some suggestions. Several different perspectives. First, happiness is a subjective feeling of people. Therefore, the current individual liberalism believes that people should strive to pursue their own happiness. This is also the idea that I have always adhered to. Second, from a biological perspective, happiness is just a series of chemical reactions controlled by hormones. Therefore, people can obtain happiness by finding ways to control hormone secretion. The happiness here is similar to pleasure. This view is frightening to think about. If happiness is entirely produced by the body and controlled by people, wouldn't life be a little too empty? Third, from a Buddhist point of view, happiness includes other emotions, which are only temporary and short-lived compared to our long life. Fluctuations in time. The Buddha said: From love comes sorrow, from love comes fear. If you are separated from love, there will be no worry and no fear. In other words, if we let go of our obsession with everything, have an objective understanding of all emotions (that is, they are just temporary fluctuations), let go of our attachments and give up pursuit, then our hearts will become calm. I don't fully agree with this view, but I have learned some reflections on it.
For negative emotions, we should learn to let go, and for positive emotions, we can pursue them appropriately. Of course, we should pay more attention to the gains in the pursuit process rather than the final results. If the results are not satisfactory, we should also learn to let go.