Yuval Harari on Sapiens

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4.7 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2015

⏱️ 72 minutes

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Summary

Yuval Harari of Hebrew University and author of Sapiens talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the history of humanity. Topics discussed include the move from hunting and gathering to agriculture, the role of fiction in sustaining imagination, the nature of money, the impact of empires and the synergies between empires and science.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
0:09.2	I'm your host, Russ Roberts, of Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
0:13.7	Our website is econtalk.org, where you can subscribe, comment on this podcast, and find
0:18.7	links and other information related to today's conversation.
0:21.7	You'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done
0:25.8	going back to 2006.
0:28.2	Our email address is mailadycontalk.org.
0:30.7	We'd love to hear from you.
0:34.0	Today is October 8, 2015, and my guest is Yvall Harari of Hebrew University, and the
0:39.9	author of Sapiens, a brief history of humankind, Yvall, welcome to Econ Talk.
0:44.8	Hello, I'm Vlad Tobe here.
0:48.0	Your book is about the rise and dominance of our species.
0:51.4	It's a very ambitious book.
0:53.8	It's a very provocative book, and you begin by focusing on our ability to imagine, to
1:01.9	create stories and myths.
1:04.4	Why is that important, and how does that help explain our history?
1:09.2	Well, because humankind controls the world, primarily due to our ability to cooperate
1:17.5	flexibly in large numbers.
1:19.6	If you look at all the huge human achievements, whether it's building the pyramids, or reaching
1:24.4	the moon, they are never the work of a single individual.
1:29.5	They are always the work of many people cooperating, and we do that better than any other animal.
1:37.4	No other animal can cooperate so flexibly in such large numbers like human beings.
	...

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