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expired Posted by phoinix | Staff • Dec 10, 2022
expired Posted by phoinix | Staff • Dec 10, 2022

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (eBook)

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Various Retailers have Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Kindle eBook) on sale for $2.99.

Thanks to Community Member phoinix for sharing this deal.


Available from: About this Item:
  • From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human."
  • One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

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Written by SaltyOne | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 67,300 reviews.

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Written by phoinix | Staff
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Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Various Retailers have Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Kindle eBook) on sale for $2.99.

Thanks to Community Member phoinix for sharing this deal.


Available from: About this Item:
  • From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human."
  • One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?

Editor's Notes

Written by SaltyOne | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • Rated 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 67,300 reviews.

Original Post

Written by phoinix | Staff

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gamingdroid
5570 Posts
332 Reputation
The frank answer is that, he isn't wrong. No more than you are right. We are basic creatures, and without cultivating our minds we do navigate our lives essentially devoid of free will. So the truth is somewhere in between.

As a software engineer, I disagree with you on AI. Humans are inherently biased, and we are easily influenced by our emotions, our mind and our environment. However, computers are cold calculating, and doesn't do anything it isn't told to do. It is free of personal judgment (more on this in the next section) It may have inherent biases, which we can correct for. I would trust a computer to make a more fair decision than humans, as we have repeatedly seen we are inherently corrupt.



Honestly, I find religion to be a large part of the ills in our society. It teaches us to blindly follow the words of who knows who from ages ago, then interpreted and re-interpreted again and again. It has every interpreters inherent bias, and the source of truth no longer exist. In many religions, it teaches you to judge others and demonize them for being different. This is completely counter to nature, where being different is what is the basis of evolution.

Religion indoctrinates people into a belief of some truths that are anything, but objective and certainly not provable. It is neither strict enough to be clear, and it is to vague to allow humans to have corrupt interpretations. You cannot prove it, nor can you disprove it. Yet it judges, and imposes your beliefs onto others.

I'd argue then that God and religion itself is evil as it takes us away from critically thinking, and allowing our mind to follow blindly someone else's word from whatever source.

Instead, philosophy should have been our religion. Knowing ourselves, knowing our weaknesses and where our flaws are a way to help us improve it. Believing we aren't basic creatures, and above it, is the evil of this world because we are afraid of betraying our ego.

Acceptance of who we are, with all the flaws is the key to a more happy and ethical/moral life.



This is independent of religion, and you can decide to do this regardless of AI, God, religion or otherwise.
the_redwood
1438 Posts
383 Reputation
Highly recommend the audio book. Travelling through human history on that scale got me through the pandemic. Put things in perspective.
b-t-1
1216 Posts
194 Reputation
This is Uncle Klaus Schwab's "Adolf Eichmann." The "thinker" for "remaking humanity" into something that won't be human. Harari believes humans are "hackable animals," and we can be manipulated and conformed to his "vision" with genetic engineering, nanotech, and brain-computer interfaces.

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Dec 10, 2022
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Dec 10, 2022
luckydog97
Dec 10, 2022
4,456 Posts

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Yuval Harari is a deluded narcissist.

His writings have attempted to reduce humans to base creatures that are unable to objectively navigate their owns lives and are devoid of free will. He has suggested perhaps letting AI run our lives to avoid such problems...but misses the fact AI would be programmed by the very creatures whose ability to orchestrate objective decisions doesn't exist lol.

He is attempting to break people's hearts and minds while selling it as an empowering freedom to resign yourself to having no self control and defer to collectivist authority. It is a subtle, demonic religion, that attempts to steal people from god, and enlist them in a secular army of mindless group think followers.

You decide who you are. You can discern any and all galactic truths. You can decide to love and forgive or to hate and avenge. You are capable of anything, and don't let this disgusting creature convince you otherwise!
Last edited by luckydog97 December 10, 2022 at 02:03 AM.
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Dec 10, 2022
3,059 Posts
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Dec 10, 2022
toolio20
Dec 10, 2022
3,059 Posts
No spoilers, but the twist with the Hackable Animals was just whoa - I needed to lay down after finishing it but then I realized I owned nothing, and was therefore happier for it...
4
Pro
Dec 10, 2022
5,570 Posts
Joined Aug 2010
Dec 10, 2022
gamingdroid
Pro
Dec 10, 2022
5,570 Posts
Quote from luckydog97 :
Yuval Harari is a deluded narcissist.

His writings have attempted to reduce humans to base creatures that are unable to objectively navigate their owns lives and are devoid of free will. He has suggested perhaps letting AI run our lives to avoid such problems...but misses the fact AI would be programmed by the very creatures whose ability to orchestrate objective decisions doesn't exist lol.
The frank answer is that, he isn't wrong. No more than you are right. We are basic creatures, and without cultivating our minds we do navigate our lives essentially devoid of free will. So the truth is somewhere in between.

As a software engineer, I disagree with you on AI. Humans are inherently biased, and we are easily influenced by our emotions, our mind and our environment. However, computers are cold calculating, and doesn't do anything it isn't told to do. It is free of personal judgment (more on this in the next section) It may have inherent biases, which we can correct for. I would trust a computer to make a more fair decision than humans, as we have repeatedly seen we are inherently corrupt.

Quote from luckydog97 :
He is attempting to break people's hearts and minds while selling it as an empowering freedom to resign yourself to having no self control and defer to collectivist authority. It is a subtle, demonic religion, that attempts to steal people from god, and enlist them in a secular army of mindless group think followers.
Honestly, I find religion to be a large part of the ills in our society. It teaches us to blindly follow the words of who knows who from ages ago, then interpreted and re-interpreted again and again. It has every interpreters inherent bias, and the source of truth no longer exist. In many religions, it teaches you to judge others and demonize them for being different. This is completely counter to nature, where being different is what is the basis of evolution.

Religion indoctrinates people into a belief of some truths that are anything, but objective and certainly not provable. It is neither strict enough to be clear, and it is to vague to allow humans to have corrupt interpretations. You cannot prove it, nor can you disprove it. Yet it judges, and imposes your beliefs onto others.

I'd argue then that God and religion itself is evil as it takes us away from critically thinking, and allowing our mind to follow blindly someone else's word from whatever source.

Instead, philosophy should have been our religion. Knowing ourselves, knowing our weaknesses and where our flaws are a way to help us improve it. Believing we aren't basic creatures, and above it, is the evil of this world because we are afraid of betraying our ego.

Acceptance of who we are, with all the flaws is the key to a more happy and ethical/moral life.

Quote from luckydog97 :
You decide who you are. You can discern any and all galactic truths. You can decide to love and forgive or to hate and avenge. You are capable of anything, and don't let this disgusting creature convince you otherwise!
This is independent of religion, and you can decide to do this regardless of AI, God, religion or otherwise.
Last edited by gamingdroid December 10, 2022 at 08:51 AM.
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Dec 10, 2022
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euuser230056
Dec 10, 2022
1,438 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank euuser230056

Highly recommend the audio book. Travelling through human history on that scale got me through the pandemic. Put things in perspective.
1
5
Dec 10, 2022
1,438 Posts
Joined Jul 2007
Dec 10, 2022
euuser230056
Dec 10, 2022
1,438 Posts
Quote from gamingdroid :
The frank answer is that, he isn't wrong. No more than you are right. We are basic creatures, and without cultivating our minds we do navigate our lives essentially devoid of free will. So the truth is somewhere in between.

As a software engineer, I disagree with you on AI. Humans are inherently biased, and we are easily influenced by our emotions, our mind and our environment. However, computers are cold calculating, and doesn't do anything it isn't told to do. It is free of personal judgment (more on this in the next section) It may have inherent biases, which we can correct for. I would trust a computer to make a more fair decision than humans, as we have repeatedly seen we are inherently corrupt.



Honestly, I find religion to be a large part of the ills in our society. It teaches us to blindly follow the words of who knows who from ages ago, then interpreted and re-interpreted again and again. It has every interpreters inherent bias, and the source of truth no longer exist. In many religions, it teaches you to judge others and demonize them for being different. This is completely counter to nature, where being different is what is the basis of evolution.

Religion indoctrinates people into a belief of some truths that are anything, but objective and certainly not provable. It is neither strict enough to be clear, and it is to vague to allow humans to have corrupt interpretations. You cannot prove it, nor can you disprove it. Yet it judges, and imposes your beliefs onto others.

I'd argue then that God and religion itself is evil as it takes us away from critically thinking, and allowing our mind to follow blindly someone else's word from whatever source.

Instead, philosophy should have been our religion. Knowing ourselves, knowing our weaknesses and where our flaws are a way to help us improve it. Believing we aren't basic creatures, and above it, is the evil of this world because we are afraid of betraying our ego.

Acceptance of who we are, with all the flaws is the key to a more happy and ethical/moral life.



This is independent of religion, and you can decide to do this regardless of AI, God, religion or otherwise.
I applaud your patience.
3
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Dec 10, 2022
5,570 Posts
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Dec 10, 2022
gamingdroid
Pro
Dec 10, 2022
5,570 Posts
Quote from the_redwood :
I applaud your patience.
I'm more afraid of the aftermath and thank you!
1
3
Dec 10, 2022
618 Posts
Joined Sep 2006
Dec 10, 2022
ennemm
Dec 10, 2022
618 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank ennemm

Lots of free full PDFs available if you searched for it - try before you buy?
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Dec 10, 2022
207 Posts
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Dec 10, 2022
redrawnmango
Dec 10, 2022
207 Posts
Quote from luckydog97 :
Yuval Harari is a deluded narcissist.

His writings have attempted to reduce humans to base creatures that are unable to objectively navigate their owns lives and are devoid of free will. He has suggested perhaps letting AI run our lives to avoid such problems...but misses the fact AI would be programmed by the very creatures whose ability to orchestrate objective decisions doesn't exist lol.

He is attempting to break people's hearts and minds while selling it as an empowering freedom to resign yourself to having no self control and defer to collectivist authority. It is a subtle, demonic religion, that attempts to steal people from god, and enlist them in a secular army of mindless group think followers.

You decide who you are. You can discern any and all galactic truths. You can decide to love and forgive or to hate and avenge. You are capable of anything, and don't let this disgusting creature convince you otherwise!
His writing isn't for everyone, and clearly isn't for you. The claims you're making can't be suitably addressed in a Slickdeals comment thread.

I would highly recommend it for certain audiences, but as I said, it's not for everyone.
1
7
Dec 10, 2022
219 Posts
Joined Jun 2018

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Dec 10, 2022
219 Posts
Joined Jun 2018
Dec 10, 2022
UberAlec
Dec 10, 2022
219 Posts
Quote from gamingdroid :
The frank answer is that, he isn't wrong. No more than you are right. We are basic creatures, and without cultivating our minds we do navigate our lives essentially devoid of free will. So the truth is somewhere in between.

As a software engineer, I disagree with you on AI. Humans are inherently biased, and we are easily influenced by our emotions, our mind and our environment. However, computers are cold calculating, and doesn't do anything it isn't told to do. It is free of personal judgment (more on this in the next section) It may have inherent biases, which we can correct for. I would trust a computer to make a more fair decision than humans, as we have repeatedly seen we are inherently corrupt.



Honestly, I find religion to be a large part of the ills in our society. It teaches us to blindly follow the words of who knows who from ages ago, then interpreted and re-interpreted again and again. It has every interpreters inherent bias, and the source of truth no longer exist. In many religions, it teaches you to judge others and demonize them for being different. This is completely counter to nature, where being different is what is the basis of evolution.

Religion indoctrinates people into a belief of some truths that are anything, but objective and certainly not provable. It is neither strict enough to be clear, and it is to vague to allow humans to have corrupt interpretations. You cannot prove it, nor can you disprove it. Yet it judges, and imposes your beliefs onto others.

I'd argue then that God and religion itself is evil as it takes us away from critically thinking, and allowing our mind to follow blindly someone else's word from whatever source.

Instead, philosophy should have been our religion. Knowing ourselves, knowing our weaknesses and where our flaws are a way to help us improve it. Believing we aren't basic creatures, and above it, is the evil of this world because we are afraid of betraying our ego.

Acceptance of who we are, with all the flaws is the key to a more happy and ethical/moral life.



This is independent of religion, and you can decide to do this regardless of AI, God, religion or otherwise.
An apropos take with a name including "droid". Your belief of "God" being a negative, then indicates humans are technically just animals with no ability to free-think. So ultimately you're just a prisoner to your "hardwiring", which runs contradictory to what you're stating. Your so called "critical thinking" is nothing more than chemical reactions in the brain at that point.

A materialistic worldview is demoralizing at best, to people of the world.
1
13
Dec 10, 2022
339 Posts
Joined Aug 2020
Dec 10, 2022
usuarioanon
Dec 10, 2022
339 Posts
Fantastic book.
2
4
Dec 10, 2022
504 Posts
Joined Nov 2011
Dec 10, 2022
ratero90
Dec 10, 2022
504 Posts
A coworker recommend it to me some time ago, for 3 bucks I'm willing to give it a try.
2
1
Dec 10, 2022
7 Posts
Joined Dec 2022
Dec 10, 2022
NervousTree8970
Dec 10, 2022
7 Posts
Fun fact - that viral image of Pope Benedict wherein the associated caption reads "The Catholic alpha male abstains from intercourse and raising a family, though there is no genetic reason to do so" is actually taken from this book. So if you're a fan of (bad) pop evolutionary psychology that's had deep influence on incel communities in the form of The Red Queen and such, this is a great book for you. If you're not a fan of that kind of thing, there's a reason why this book is this cheap and it has everything to do with it's quality.
5
Dec 10, 2022
1,216 Posts
Joined Nov 2018
Dec 10, 2022
b-t-1
Dec 10, 2022
1,216 Posts
This is Uncle Klaus Schwab's "Adolf Eichmann." The "thinker" for "remaking humanity" into something that won't be human. Harari believes humans are "hackable animals," and we can be manipulated and conformed to his "vision" with genetic engineering, nanotech, and brain-computer interfaces.
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Dec 10, 2022
1,216 Posts
Joined Nov 2018
Dec 10, 2022
b-t-1
Dec 10, 2022
1,216 Posts
Quote from ennemm :
Lots of free full PDFs available if you searched for it - try before you buy?
Unless one is a prosecutor for a new International War Crimes Tribunal (Nuremberg), Harari's "work" is a waste of time, for normal folks.
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