That name, obviously, had been on Santal lips for a very long time! The fact is that a jumbo brain is a jumbo drain on the body. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind review - the Guardian They have evolved. His concept of what really exists seems to be anything material but, in his opinion, nothing beyond this does exist (his word). Somewhere along the way I bought the book and saved it for later. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. The book's flawed claims have been debunked numerous times. His main argument for the initial origin of religion is that it fostered cooperation. There are only organs, abilities and characteristics. Other linguists have suggested that this finding would imply a cognitive equivalent of the Big Bang.. Churches are rooted in common religious myths. Nor, for that matter, could Sam Devis or Yuval Noah Harari. Today our big brains pay off nicely, because we can produce cars and guns that enable us to move much faster than chimps, and shoot them from a safe distance instead of wrestling. The speaker believes it didnt happen because they have already presupposed that God is not there to do it. It all depends on humanity having been not created. Lets just let Harari speak for himself: According to the science of biology, people were not created. One surviving example of this is the fascinating library of the Benedictines at San Marco in Florence. On top of that, if it is true, then neither you nor I could ever know. There are also immaterial entities the spirits of the dead, and friendly and malevolent beings, the kind that we today call demons, fairies and angels. He is best, in my view, on the modern world and his far-sighted analysis of what we are doing to ourselves struck many chords with me. Smart, Carol. Concept. The very first Christian sermons (about AD 33) were about the facts of their experience the resurrection of Jesus not about morals or religion or the future. I found the very last page of the book curiously encouraging: We are more powerful than ever beforeWorse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. While reading it I consistently thought to myself, This book is light on science and data, and heavy on fact-free story-telling and no wonder since many of his arguments are steeped indata-free evolutionary psychology! So I decided to look up the books Wikipedia page to see if other people felt the same way. He makes it much too late. It has direction certainly, but he believes it is the direction of an iceberg, not a ship. It is a brilliant, thought-provoking odyssey through human history with its huge confident brush strokes painting enormous scenarios across time.