Have anyone read the recently released 'Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity' by David Graeber and David Wengrow.
The articles I read about was thinking it was superlative.
The articles I read about was thinking it was superlative.
- history is not a linear progression and narrative, sometimes things happen in leaps and also can go "backward"
- farming was something that was dabbled in for a millenia before fully committing to it
- the idea of "egalitarianism" is quite vague and can be understood in many ways
- ideas about egalitarianism moved from native americans to the french .. not they other way around
- lots of very interesting stories about how our ancestors were not stupid
- lots of questions about how archeology has been interpreted and how a lot of the evidence does not support the mainstream narrative
- gives examples of societies where "leadership/politics" was actively avoided
- has a nice background on different ingredients of statehood and how they manifested in history
I have a feeling this might be the seminal book for having a fresh analysis and reassessment of lot of what is called "prehistory".
Very highly recommended from my side. I will re-read it a few times probably and gift it to a few friends.
Humankind touches on this same topic too. Basically, it wasn't until we settled down in one place that humans were able to create massive inequality. In order to protect those levels of inequality, the powerful elite created concepts like property ownership, the divine right of kings, etc.
Egalitarianism had to be essentially rediscovered after it was lost during the transition to agrarianism. Non-agrarian cultures are naturally fairly high in equality.
Both provide ample hope that humanity can mature (back) out of some of the destructive states we've found ourselves in, and provide historical context and supporting evidence.
The Dawn of Everything is already becoming one of those books that I'll remember forever as one of those identity-shaping texts that most readers will be familiar with. And I'm not even halfway done.
I had very high expectations from the book because of Graeber (the Debt book fame).
I’m happy to report that it’s surpassed it. It’s not an easy read, need to take it slowly. But what an incredible achievement. That book, if I may say so, is a celebration of ordinary humans. Can’t recommend it enough.
Something that I have read, and highly recommend, is Steven Pinker's latest book, his 17th: "Rationality." As a person who considers himself to be coldly rational, I found the book quite humbling.