
Humankind
A Hopeful History
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Narrated by:
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Thomas Judd
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Rutger Bregman
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By:
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Rutger Bregman
About this listen
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman and Daily Express Book of the Year
‘Hugely, highly and happily recommended’
Stephen Fry
‘You should read Humankind. You’ll learn a lot (I did) and you’ll have good reason to feel better about the human race’
Tim Harford
‘The book we need right now’
Daily Telegraph
'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective'
Yuval Noah Harari
It’s a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest.
Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.
In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world’s most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram’s Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.
It is time for a new view of human nature.©2020 Rutger Bregman (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Really enjoyable read...
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Mind shifting, hopeful (hi)story of our kind
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The most positive book I’ve ever read or listened to
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Hope for humanity
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What are you waiting for?
You should be listening to this
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😳😲🤩
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A very important read
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Highly recommend this book
Excellent- a must read
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Bregman offers a strong argument that the cynical default state we are so accustomed to in media is not actually true. Stories of drama and conflict and misery might be more interesting, but not in fact good representations of human nature.
From debunking famous studies, to showcasing many more lesser-known ones, it's important to understand that it's not all grim. A lot of history going back to hunter-gatherer era and the whole Hobbes & Rousseau debate. One interesting term on evolved friendliness would be 'homo puppy'
Overall, it's key to remember that humans are cooperative by nature. Not competitive. Don't trust those leaders who say otherwise!
Needed this
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Kindness
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