History began when humans invented gods, and will end when humans become gods…

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Hebrew_University_of_Jerusalem
Below is a blog entry written by The Hebrew University of Jersusalem’s Dr. Yuval Noah Harari about his course A Brief History of Humankind; started this week, August 10th.

hand
moon
A human handprint made about 30,000 years ago, on the wall of the Chauvet Cave in southern France. Somebody tried to say “I was here!”
A human footprint on the Moon, 1969. We were there too.

Seventy thousand years ago, there were at least six different human species on earth. They were insignificant animals, whose ecological impact was no greater than that of jellyfish, zebras or chickens. Today, there is only one human species left: Us. Homo sapiens. But we rule this planet.

The course, A Brief History of Humankind, takes us on a breath-taking ride through our entire human history, from its evolutionary roots to the age of capitalism and genetic engineering. It focuses on key processes that shaped humankind and the world around us, such as the advent of agriculture, the creation of money, the spread of religion and the rise of the nation state. The course invites us to question the basic narratives of our world. Its conclusions are enlightening and at times provocative. For example:

  • We rule the world because we are the only animal that can believe in things that exist purely in our own imagination, such as gods, states, money and human rights.
  • Sapiens are ecological serial killers – even with stone-age tools, our ancestors wiped out half the planet’s large terrestrial mammals well before the advent of agriculture.
  • The Agricultural Revolution was history’s biggest fraud – wheat domesticated Sapiens rather than the other way around.
  • Money is the most universal and pluralistic system of mutual trust ever devised. Money is the only thing everyone trusts.
  • Empire is the most successful political system humans have invented, and our present era of anti-imperial sentiment is probably a short-lived aberration.
  • Capitalism is a religion rather than just an economic theory – and it is the most successful religion to date.
  • The treatment of animals in modern agriculture may turn out to be the worst crime in history.
  • We are far more powerful than our ancestors, but we aren’t much happier.
  • Sapiens will soon disappear. With the help of novel technologies, within a few centuries or even decades, Sapiens will upgrade themselves into completely different beings, enjoying godlike qualities and abilities.

    • History began when humans invented gods – and will end when humans become gods.

    Editor’s note from Coursera: Consider our minds expanded, Dr. Harari…

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