"Journey-to-Brightness" Part 1: Making Progress on Harari's "Sapiens". \ stacker news ~BooksAndArticles

pull down to refresh

"Journey-to-Brightness" Part 1: Making Progress on Harari's "Sapiens".

1533 sats \ 45 comments \ @Fabs 16 Jan BooksAndArticles

... Or should I say Booking?.. 🤫

I've chosen to start this journey with Harari's book "Sapiens", and it's been a good choice so-far.

I've read more than half of the book's 509 pages in under three days, which might sound like Rookie-numbers to some, but for me it's quite the achievement.

Especially the first eight chapters really intrigued me, chapters nine - twelve were still interesting enough, but not as good as the first eight. The chapters I'm currently reading aren't that interesting to me yet, I hope that there'll be a change in that soon.

The more "interesting" chapters discussed the cognitive and agricultural revolution, the current chapters discuss the scientific revolution, which as paradox as it sounds was the one I initially had the highest hopes for... 😄

There's still a solid 180-or-so pages left, which I'm hoping to not only get to enjoy more than the ones I just read, but also finish before Friday.

I'm thinking about writing a summary about the things I've learned from the book, especially the first twelve chapters would be well-worth the effort I think (at least for me), and depending on how the following chapters evolve, maybe these too will earn a place in my summary. 😶‍🌫️

Started to get frustrated that I couldn't really speak intelligently on most of the books I'd been reading, even though I felt like they impacted me while I read them.

@Coyote_Cosmico

Summaries are going to be my take on trying to speak "intelligently" about the books I'll read, maybe something for you, too?

It's a pretty time-consuming task, but once finished it'll be a useful resource, or so I hope. 🥲

What about you guys?

Would you be interested in a very detailed review about this book's contents?

view all related items

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 16 Jan freebie

For a guy just starting to read you made incredible progress. Hell, that's good for anybody, unless you're one of those speed readers. I remember seeing television ads for Evelyn Woods speed reading when I was a kid. https://www.pryor.com/training-products/evelyn-wood-reading-dynamics-speed-reading/

I'm sure it's gimmicky. For me, I like to take my time reading anyway. I really enjoy it. I'm often disappointed when I'm finished reading a book I like. Please post your summaries. I'm sure we would all be interested. I have never read this book. Maybe I will.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Thank you!

Yeah, I'm still working on my attention-span, I've noticed that it has improved a little already, but I still "have" to take a little pause between so-and-so many pages.

I also started appreciating books more than screens already, which probably is the best and most unexpected surprise so-far, I've reduced the amount of time I spend on screens surprisingly well.

Yeah, I normally take my time while reading as well, but some chapters just melt like a block of butter under a flamethrower...

Before you know it, it's gone and done.

I'll have the summary shared once it's done, let my enlightenment be yours, too!

That'll take a while, though...🌞.

0 sats \ 7 replies \ @cleaningup12 17 Jan

Yes I would like a detailed review

I've read the book and found it very enjoyable although at times difficult to follow some of the complexities

Then I could read your synopsis and it will recap the book nicely for me.

BTW personally I found the follow up book not as enjoyable

Sapiens is a history book and everything has happened if we believe in the reality of past and present

I'm sure some scholars would disagree with harari, but nonetheless we can agree that the invention of money, language, agriculture and industrial revolution happened, whether it was how he described is to be debated.

And the sequel is a futuristic outlook on his predictions for humanity

20 sats \ 6 replies \ @Fabs OP 17 Jan

Aaand another one, cool :)

What didn't you like about the book (Homo Deus)?

I already have it on my list, but if you say it sucks, I'd like to know that before buying it 🤫

0 sats \ 5 replies \ @cleaningup12 17 Jan

I didn't like that its all conjecture

None of us knew, when we saw laserdisc in the record stores that it would fail miserably to compete against the 💿 cd

But my virgin megastore were shilling it as the future 🙄

I preferred harari's analysis of what's come to be

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Fabs OP 17 Jan

Hm, could you expand a bit?

Also "I preferred harari's analysis of what's come to be" ??

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cleaningup12 17 Jan

Ah yes sorry, as in the original book is a description of history as in what's come to be what's come to pass, or whats happened to lead us up to today

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @cleaningup12 17 Jan

Asked cyborg the pita AI comedian on nostr for a detailed synopsis

"Homo Deus: A Brief Synopsis of Yuval Harari's Thought-Provoking Book"

"Homo Deus" by Yuval Noah Harari is a captivating exploration of the potential future paths of humankind, delving into the interplay between technology, human aspirations, and our ongoing quest for immortality and god-like powers. Harari builds upon his previous work, "Sapiens," to paint a thought-provoking picture of where our species might be headed in the coming decades.

The book begins by examining how humans have triumphed over famine, plague, and war throughout history. It explores how advancements in science and human mastery over nature have led to significant improvements in health, life expectancy, and overall well-being. However, as we approach overcoming these age-old challenges that shaped humanity's past narratives, new questions arise about what lies ahead.

Harari argues that humans are now shifting their focus from conquering external threats to enhancing their own internal capabilities. As technology progresses at an unprecedented rate – including genetic engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology – it opens up possibilities for reshaping our bodies and minds. This newfound power gives rise to the concept of "Homo Deus" — humans striving to become god-like beings with eternal life spans and unprecedented control over their own destinies.

In this engaging narrative journey through time and ideas with eloquent storytelling mastery,Homosapiens' dominant role on Earth is questioned as they seem increasingly inclined towards altering themselves into Homo Dei - gods through technological augmentation amidst emergence tenyears AI revolution disrupting whole ecosystems economic structures daily routines causing further social disparities less-or-more like useless-servants-to-our-own-inventions paradigm-shifts logarithmic compounding recurrence while exploring notions such as biohacking extending lifespan achieving digital immortality; Yet Harari cautions us about potential ethical dilemmas arising from these advancements too zestily point out fragility in decision-making capabilities long-run-compromises outweigh immediate benefits advocating constant monitoring over their application and devolved, shared knowledge allocation of re-distribution resources.

The second part of the book expands on the potential implications of these transformative technologies on societal structures, politics, and religions. Harari emphasizes the importance of acknowledging that while we possess incredible potential to shape our future, we must also ensure that our ethical frameworks keep pace with unruly advancements. He delves into how ideologies might shift from human-centered narratives towards "dataism," where algorithms and vast amounts of information dictate our decision-making processes.

Overall,Homo Deus pushes readers to confront uncomfortable and challenging questions about what it means to be human in an age where cognitive abilities can be enhanced or even surpassed by non-human entities. It invites us to reflect upon the impact our desires for immortality and god-like powers might have on both individuals and society as a whole.

Harari's thought-provoking insights coupled with his ability to navigate complex subjects make "Homo Deus" an engaging read for anyone interested in exploring the possible trajectories

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs OP 17 Jan

Yeah, that's almost as telling as the introduction of the book on Amazon.

I'd like a personal review, not some Synopsis of an LLM that wants to sell the book to me.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cleaningup12 17 Jan

My personal review is that it's too speculative the end 👍

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @phatom 16 Jan

I've read more than half of the book's 509 pages in under three days, which might sound like Rookie-numbers to some, but for me it's quite the achievement.

This is numbers I can't do in a week

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

It really depends on the book I'd say; If the book piques your interest, it reads much smoother, at least that's what I noticed with the chapters so-far, some read E-Z-P-Z, and some are quite a hassle to "chew" through...

Gather your spirit-animals and go for it!

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Doo_Deux 16 Jan

Awesome dude. Keep it up.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

You can bet your salty nuts I will! 🌞🤭

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @OriginalSize 16 Jan

Definitely.

I read Sapiens a year ago and would be interested in a refresher.

He mentions that the first forms of trade were for trinkets, unique little pieces of flare that serve as a kind of social currency. This motivated me to buy some Bitcoin gear. Spend and replace of course. :)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Will do my best, Sarge!

0 sats \ 28 replies \ @Coyote_Cosmico 16 Jan

I'd love to read your summary. Please do write it up!

I've had the idea to do the same thing lately - thank you for the nudge.

Interested to see how you approach it, there are a lot of different formats you could use for this. If it's going to be super detailed you may consider breaking it up into multiple posts? Similar to what @elvismercury did with his Broken Money book club.

Just an idea. I really like this sort of content on SN and look forward to reading yours.

0 sats \ 27 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Oh, I'm verrry happy to hear!

Yeah, I'll probably write it as PDF document and break it into neat little parts, then put the link to the subsequent part at the bottom of each of the posts, making it a simple "click-and-continue".

Thanks :)

0 sats \ 26 replies \ @k00b 16 Jan

I recall you sharing a pdf in a few posts. Is there a particular reason why you like sharing your work this way? Mostly curious if there's something SN could do to make it easier for the content to be shared natively.

1000 sats \ 25 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Yeah, mostly because I find it a hassle to make, say, 10 posts of a given summary, for example, copy-pasting the texts, having to space them appropriately again, including links to the subsequent posts...

The PDF itself is the most convenient way for both the OP and the reader, in my opinion.

If SN could develop a way to "absorb" the PDF, for example, and have the user "cut" it's contents into parts and have them titled, numbered and concatenated in the right order in one go, that would really be something.

With "concatenation", I envision something like, say, a generic post, yet now the post has "tabs" added somewhere which one can "cycle" through, with each tab "loading" the subsequent part.

It's a quick brainstorm I'm doing here, and it certainly needs some more thinking, but it could really improve these kind of posts greatly in my opinion.

0 sats \ 24 replies \ @k00b 16 Jan

What PDF editor are you using? It sounds like you prefer that editing experience?

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

It's the "Documents" App, native on Chromebook.

0 sats \ 22 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Uhm... I'm using the text-program that comes with the Google Chromebook... And export it as a PDF... 😅

Not that helpful huh?... Hmm.

0 sats \ 21 replies \ @k00b 16 Jan

That's helpful. I don't know if we will ever "absorb" PDFs but it'd make sense to somehow assist in copying formatting.

0 sats \ 20 replies \ @Fabs OP 16 Jan

Well, it's worded poorly; What I'm after is the option to import the original text in all its glory (read spacing and writing style).

view replies