Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Harari uses this phrase to describe the construction of social classes.

An economic-led system in which the means of production is controlled by private owners for profit. 

A system in which so many forces are at work and their interactions are so complex that extremely small variations in the strength of the forces and the way they interact produce huge differences in outcomes. A level one chaotic system is one that does not react to predictions about it. A level two chaotic system reacts to predictions and can therefore never be predicted accurately.

This refers to the period, approximately 70,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens developed cognitive abilities that surpassed other humans of the age.

Network of artificial instincts about how to think and behave.

A market system in which prices are determined by competition and not regulated by government.

The genus and species name of modern humans. Homo sapiens translates literally to “wise man.”

An animal of the genus Homo.

An advocate of the principles of humanism attaches primary importance to humans and not to a supreme being. Liberal humanists sanctify humans but do not deny the existence of God while socialist humanists believe that humanity is collective rather than individualistic. Evolutionary humanists have broken with monotheism, regarding humans as a mutable species that can evolve or degenerate.

An idea, such as money, human rights, or the existence of nations, that subsists in the shared imagination of people. 

The practice of a country or government spreading its power and influence by diplomacy or force.

A period that began about 200 years ago, ushered in by a transition to new manufacturing processes.

One major theory of how Homo sapiens became the prevailing human species. It posits that as humans from Africa spread around the world, they bred with other human populations they encountered, and the Homo sapiens alive today are the outcome of this interbreeding.

A group of people who know each other well and depend on each other for survival.

A religious doctrine or belief in only one God.

A belief system maintaining that superhuman order governing the universe is a result of natural laws instead of divine will. Examples include Buddhism, Daoism, and Stoicism. 

Belief in or worship of more than one god.

A “system of human norms and values that is founded on belief in a superhuman order” (228).

With the interbreeding theory, one of two major theories of how Homo sapiens became the prevailing human species. It posits that sapiens and other humans had different anatomies and mating habits, could not produce fertile children, and therefore had little sexual interest in each other. Sapiens replaced all the previous human populations without merging with them. Humans today are all “pure Sapiens.”