I'd like to introduce you to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. The wonderful Yuval Noah Harari is the author of this book. He says that the deepest and most fundamental motivation behind the creation of a glorious civilisation of mankind from ancient times until today lies in the cognitive revolution driven by imagination.

I'd love to start by giving you a quick introduction to the subject and author of A Brief History of Humankind. As you might guess from the title, A Brief History of Humankind is a history told with us humans in mind. It might not sound that special at first, but if you think about it, you'll see that this history is written in a really interesting way. I'd love to know your thoughts on this! If you think about it, history has always been written in one of two ways: either as a biological history or as a human history. One way of writing history tells you who humans are, and the other way tells you what humans have done. The former, such as the particularly famous "Naked Ape", suggests that humans are basically just hairless monkeys. It tries to explain our sexual behaviour, child-rearing behaviour and fighting behaviour using biological theories. The latter, such as the particularly famous "General History of the Globe", suggests that humans have created some pretty amazing civilisations. These include the Greco-Roman civilisation, the Indian civilisation, the Chinese civilisation, the Western European civilisation and the Islamic civilisation. This lovely book, A Brief History of Humankind, is all about us humans and how we've shaped the world. It's a fascinating read!

At first glance, you might think that this is a particularly materialistic perspective. But it's not! The reason behind all these civilisations that humans have created is not because of what kind of a species they are. Have you ever wondered what kind of species humans are? Well, they're just primates, as The Naked Ape says, hairless monkeys. But this book is not like that at all! This book will tell you something really amazing about the human species. We have evolved a whole set of amazing biological mechanisms that allow us to achieve incredible things. And the most incredible thing of all is our imagination! It's thanks to our amazing imagination that we've been able to achieve all these incredible things and build such a wonderful civilisation.

Now that you know what this book is all about, I'd like to introduce you to the wonderful person who wrote it. The author of this wonderful book is Yuval Harari, an Israeli historian who was born in 1976. He got his doctorate in history from Oxford University and is now a professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He's a bit of a geek in the academic world, and it's all down to his books, A Brief History of Humankind and A Brief History of the Future, and the amazing ideas he shares in them. For example, in A Brief History of Humankind, Harari suggests that humans might not have much of an individual advantage over other higher animals, such as chimpanzees. The wonderful thing about humans is that we can achieve so much when we work together in groups.

And the wonderful thing about humans is that we're so good at working together because we have such amazing imaginations! Other animals only live in objective reality, but humans can live in both objective reality and virtual reality at the same time! This is the real reason why humans can dominate the earth – isn't it fascinating?

These ideas from A Brief History of Humankind are pretty mind-blowing, even for many historians! But Harari doesn't stop there. In A Brief History of the Future, he goes even further with some pretty mind-blowing ideas. One of them is the choice we as a species are already beginning to face: should we become gods? I wonder, should we make ourselves immortal? So, if robots one day become more intelligent than us, should we let them take over? Wouldn't it be great if they could run our lives and our society, and we could just relax and enjoy our lives to the fullest? Hraley is different from many other historians. They focus on the past and on all those stacks of paper. Hraley, though, focuses on the present. He truly believes that humanity is now at a point where it must answer these questions. It's his job to draw knowledge, wisdom, experience and lessons from history to answer them.

Now that you've had a chance to get to know this "young geek," I'd love to introduce you to the basic style and structure of the book, A Brief History of Mankind.

Take a look at the table of contents of A Brief History of Humankind. It's divided into four parts and twenty chapters. The first one explains the Cognitive Revolution, the second one explains the Agricultural Revolution, the third one explains the integration and unification of mankind, and the fourth one explains the Scientific Revolution. As you can see from this table of contents, the most important thing for Hraley was to observe the many different revolutions that have shaped our history. He saw them as the most fundamental changes and renewals in every aspect of our lives, from how we think and learn, to how we produce technology and organize our societies. I just want to make sure you understand this really important point, which is that the most important thing for Hraley in looking at human history was revolution. In fact, he saw revolution as the most important thing that has ever happened in history! If you can remember this little nugget of information, it'll help you understand the purpose and significance of the book A Brief History of Mankind better.

Okay, now let me take you through the book and show you the really important point Harari is trying to make. He says it's our imagination that makes us unique as a species. It's what allows us to keep reinventing ourselves and pushing history forward.

Part I: The Cognitive Revolution

Harari wants to start by saying that humans are really nothing special. In terms of physical chemistry, we're just a bunch of atoms and molecules. And in terms of biological classification, we're a family of mammals in the order of primates called the human family. It's so interesting to think that even higher animals like chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are actually very close to us in a biological sense! The book says that six million years ago, a female ape gave birth to two children. One of them became the grandparent of all chimpanzees, and the other became the grandparent of all humans!

And even when we're talking about different species within our own human family, the species to which we humans belong today is not that different from other ancient human species throughout history. I'm sure you remember from high school biology that species are divided into phyla, orders, families and genera. Well, today's humans belong to the genus Homo, which is the only species under this genus. But there have been other "human" species in history too, like the Neanderthals in the Middle East and Europe, and the Denisovans in Oceania. However, archaeological and genetic studies have shown that a small portion of these non-Homo sapiens species interbred with our ancestors, and a little bit of their genes remain in some of today's ethnic groups. But sadly, the vast majority of the ancient human beings were wiped out by our ancestors 70,000-30,000 years ago. It's a sad fact that their living space was squeezed to extinction by our ancestors, just as our ancestors squeezed them to extinction. Our ancestors were pretty brutal, weren't they? They hunted the poor dodo to extinction, just like they did with so many other ancient species. Of course, it's totally normal in nature for species to change and for the fittest to survive. But how did our lovely Homo sapiens manage to triumph over other ancient races? It's so important to remember that our ancestors weren't as big, mobile or agile as other races.

The most important thing to know is that our ancestors had a special ability that helped them succeed. They had a much more developed ability to communicate with each other using language. He introduces a really fascinating theory that I think you'll find really interesting: the gossip theory.

I'd love to know what it means! Biologists believe that our dear friends, the "Homo sapiens," are capable of making a lot of sounds, which can be combined into many sentences, and even develop complex meanings! But the truth is, this ability is pretty common in other animals. Monkeys, for instance, have different calls too. They can even use a special call to tell other monkeys, "Hey, there's a lion by the river! Don't go to drink water!" So, how is Homo sapiens different from them?

There is a difference, and it's an interesting one! Homo sapiens is a special animal. It has a brain and language that allows it to think about itself and even "gossip" about its own people! It's pretty amazing, isn't it? If a tribe of people can chat about their own members for a few hours a day, they can really get to know their tribe and who to trust. In the long run, we can work more closely together, the tribe will grow and develop.

This gossip theory might sound a little unusual, but it has been backed up by lots of studies and experiments. Hurley says it's the key to understanding how human civilisation has developed over time. Have you ever thought about how we describe things? If you say, "There's a lion by the river," you're talking about a real object. But if you say, "There's a good person by the river," or "There's a bad person by the river," you're talking about a virtual object. Virtual objects are made up of words like "good," "bad," "trustworthy," and "moral." And if a species is able to talk about virtual objects, it has the wonderful possibility to divide labour and form complex societies.

To show us what he means, Hurley uses a classic sociological finding, the "Dunbar number," also known as the Law of 150. This fascinating law suggests that if a group is sustained only by the exchange of gossip between individuals, the maximum size of the group is 150 people. As long as you're within this range, you don't need to worry about having any kind of system of norms. You can just rely on your relationships with each other to keep things running smoothly. This could be like in a small company or a small village, for example. But if an organisation wants to exceed this threshold of 150 people, it has to have a prerequisite that everyone can imagine and believe in a fictional story. Take Catholicism, for instance. Everyone believes in the crucifixion of Jesus, which means that even people who don't know each other have something in common. And it's the same for a company, a society, a nation. And you might be wondering, what is the root of this amazing ability? It's all about the ability to describe virtual objects, as I've just shown you.

This is the first and most important revolution that Harari talks about: the cognitive revolution. The so-called cognitive revolution, that is to say, "Homo sapiens" – this kind of animal has developed language ability beyond the general animal level of expression, which is basically just saying "there is a lion by the river". It can even gossip about itself! And through the lovely ability to gossip about themselves, our dear Homo sapiens developed the wonderful ability to describe virtual objects. And with the ability to describe virtual objects, our ancestors were able to share a common belief in one thing. This made it possible for them to come together in groups of 150 people or more, which led to the formation of complex societies and the development of a high degree of civilisation.

Harari makes a great point—this is a huge breakthrough, even in terms of biological evolution! It's so interesting to think about how species have evolved in the past. It seems like the most common way that species change is through genetic mutations. For example, we know that monkeys can turn into orangutans, and orangutans can turn into humans! I'm just wondering, is there something wrong with this way of evolution? It's a bit too long, don't you think? I'd love to know how long it took for the genes to evolve from apes to humans! It took two million years, and in between, there was no fundamental change in the way apes lived. But in the 70,000 years since Homo sapiens first appeared, human lifestyles have changed so much! It's incredible to think that our species no longer relies on genetic mutation to move forward, but on the division of labour.

I know this might come as a surprise, but the truth is that Darwin's evolutionary theory is really well known. And the discovery of genes was one of the biggest breakthroughs in science in the 20th century! I must say, I'm a little surprised to hear that organisms don't evolve by genes, but rather by division of labour. I'd love to know if there's any evidence for that!

Part Two: The Agricultural Revolution

Harari says there really is evidence of this, and it's all linked to the second revolution he's going to talk about, the agricultural revolution. I'd love to tell you more about it!

Before we humans entered the Agricultural Age, which is also known as the Gathering Age, just imagine it for a moment. In this era, men hunted, women picked fruits, and there was no "slash-and-burn cultivation," so productivity was extremely backward. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? You might think that people in this era must have been living a pretty tough life, often not having enough to eat, and not as smart as those who later entered the agricultural society, right?

But Harari kindly tells you that you are precisely wrong. Archaeologists have shown us that folks living in the Age of Gathering had it pretty good! They were actually better nourished than folks who later entered the agricultural society. And their brains were bigger too! So, from an evolutionary perspective, it seems that our species actually degraded from the Gathering Age to the Agricultural Age. I'd love to know why this is so!

I'd love to tell you why the people of the Gathering Age had such amazing bodies and brains! The lovely people of the Gathering Age ate a great variety of food with well-balanced nutrition. They enjoyed mushrooms in the morning, fruits at noon, and catching a rabbit at night. On the other hand, the diet of the ancient people who entered the agricultural society was pretty much the same most of the time. I'm sure you'll agree that the farmers in ancient China had a tough time. They basically had three meals a day of dry food, and they also had to deal with pests and diseases. On top of that, they had to pay harsh taxes. It's no wonder they often ended up malnourished. Scientists have also found that people in the gathering age had bigger brains than people in the early agricultural society. This is because people in the gathering age had to deal with a lot of different things in their environment. They had to know which plants and animals were safe to eat and which weren't. They also had to be good at spotting dangers in their surroundings. For example, if they saw bushes that were on fire, they had to know that it was probably snakes. They also had to be good at sports and be able to climb trees and swim in rivers to get food. All this requires his brain to process a lot of different information, which is pretty impressive! On the other hand, lots of people in agrarian societies live in the same area all their lives, planting small patches of wheat and leading simple, uneventful lives. Even if they're just a few miles apart, they rarely get to meet up. It's so interesting to think that their brains actually processed less and less information.

So, you might be wondering, why did human beings evolve in this way when the individual human being was actually experiencing some challenges from the Gathering Age to the agricultural society?

The good news is that agricultural societies made it much more likely for Homo sapiens to reproduce. In the Gathering Age, people were on the move, following the food. And then, when children started to migrate, it became a bit of a problem. But once we started living the good life in agricultural societies and humans became more settled, we could have children every year, and the rate of population growth shot up! Even though there were some challenges in agricultural societies, like high infant mortality rates, malnutrition and smaller brain capacity, the good news is that the total population did go up!

This brings us to an important question about our values. It's not about how strong or fast an individual is, but how much of the species' genes have spread. That's how evolution works, at a biological level. Hraley makes a great point. It's a bit like looking at whether a company is doing well or not today. We mainly focus on how much money it makes, rather than whether its employees are happy or not. As we moved into agricultural societies, everyone's physical fitness took a bit of a tumble. But the good news is that the spread of ethnic genes got a lot more efficient! That's what evolution really means.

This is why Harari says that the agricultural revolution seemed like a step forward, but it was actually a huge trap for individual human beings. The agricultural revolution looks like mankind's success in domesticating certain crops and livestock. But in fact, it was the other way around! These crops and livestock domesticated us, and we had to serve their growth every day. We had to till the fields and loosen the soil, water and fertilise them, and take care of them. On top of that, the rise of agriculture gave us the chance to build communities, countries, classes and religions. Unfortunately, this also led to some pretty tough times, with class struggles and religious conflicts. We all made great strides as a species thanks to the division of labour. But sadly, this also meant that each of us had to face more challenges. I know it might be hard to believe, but if you look at the ancient civilisations, you'll see that there were the pyramids in Egypt, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Great Wall of China. These magnificent wonders of the world were all created by the hard work of slaves and oppressed people. Let's be honest, the Agrarian Revolution meant that a small group of people became the ruling class while the majority were left to suffer. It's sad to think that this is what it took to create civilisation.

This brings us to something really interesting. It's what Hraley calls the second leap of the human imagination, and it was brought about by the agricultural revolution. The first leap, as we chatted about before, was the so-called "cognitive revolution". This is when humans started to imagine things that weren't real, through "gossip". This helped them to move beyond the 150-person limit of the tribal communities they'd been living in. "The threshold of tribal communities. So, what does the second leap mean? It's all about how we can use our amazing imaginations to create a virtual political order. Have you ever thought about why the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids? It wasn't just because they were afraid of the Pharaoh. They genuinely believed that the Pharaoh was God's voice on earth! They thought that building the pyramids for the Pharaoh was part of obeying the divinely intended order.

Harari says that the social order in which we live actually stems from imagination in the final analysis, and there are three important manifestations of this theory:

The first thing to say is that the order we create with our imaginations is so closely aligned with the real world that you hardly notice the difference! Let's say a child lives in a medieval castle. They don't have their own room, and everyone can see them moving around. This makes them really think about their social status and sense of honour. In modern society, the child has their own room, which is great! This helps them to develop a belief in individualism. They feel that they don't have to care about other people's eyes, which is a wonderful thing. It's also good for them to live up to their own values. It's so interesting how this belief in values and the way we arrange our living space are so closely connected. It's hard to say which came first!

The second thing to note is that the imagined order also shapes our desires. Take travel abroad or buying a large villa, for example. You might think that doing these things is the embodiment of freedom and individuality, but it's actually all consumerism. You see it in the movies, on TV, in ads, and on social media. Your friends tell you that you should send your girlfriend these things. What would you get your girlfriend in ancient times? Why not send her a big, beautiful pyramid to ensure her heart flowers bloom? It's actually pretty funny when you think about it. Whether it's sending someone overseas or sending them a tomb, it's all just imagination.

And thirdly, it's the wonderful thing about imagination that it connects us all together! Let me give you an example. Have you ever wondered why the dollar piece of paper is worth money? Ultimately, it's all down to imagination. But it's thanks to this wonderful imagination that we can set up a transnational economy and the rules of international trade. This means that capital, commodities and labour from all over the globe can work together! Without it, we'd all be back to square one in the blink of an eye!

So, in the end, Harari concludes that as human beings, it's simply not possible for us to break away from the order established by our imagination. It's so easy to think we've broken out of the prison we thought was holding us back and are on our way to freedom. But the truth is, we've just ended up in a bigger, wider prison with a slightly different set of rules. And throughout history, when human beings imagine order, they are particularly good at imagining the difference between the higher and the lower. For example, they might imagine that white people are superior to black people, or men are superior to women. And they give countless arguments to back up these ideas. At the end of the day, none of these arguments have anything to do with justice. They're just the result of our imaginations running wild!

You might be wondering, if order is imagined, then surely different people should imagine different orders? For instance, Westerners believed that God created everything, while Chinese people thought that Pangu opened up the heavens and the earth. And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what happened in ancient societies! But what can we say about the era of globalisation that we are facing today? Could it be that we're all imagining together?

Part Three

Part III: The Integration and Unification of Humanity

Harari makes a fascinating argument that from 1000 BC onwards, three orders emerged that had the potential to literally make "all of humanity just happen to imagine being together". This led to the belief that it was possible for fellow human beings around the globe to be together, governed by the same set of rules. These three orders were the money order, the empire order, and the faith order.

Let's start with the money order, shall we? Have you ever wondered why money is so magical? Harari says it's because the money system has two main features: everything is convertible, and everything is believed. And it's the belief that's ultimately dependent on the conversion! I'm sure you remember the political economy view taught in middle school political science textbooks, that money is essentially a general equivalent. Well, Harari will tell you that this understanding is not quite enough. Money is the most universal and effective system of mutual trust ever devised. That's what makes it so special! The great thing about money is that it's something we all believe in. Religion is different – you have to believe in it for yourself. If you believe in it for material wealth, I believe in it too! Even if we don't know each other and we don't know each other's character, we can start working together based on that trust alone. All you have to do is pay the money!

The second order is the imperial order, which is, to be honest, the order of violence. It's also good to understand this: everyone understands the logic of money, and everyone understands the logic of the sword too. But an empire doesn't just rely on violent rule, oh no! It also spreads lots of other good things like uniform laws, writing, language and currency, and even a common culture. And most of the empire's elites themselves believed that they were working for the overall good of all the empire's subjects, which is pretty admirable if you ask me! Harari also talks about China, that ancient, heavenly country. They believed that they should be a blessing to the four directions and share their wonderful Chinese culture with the whole world. The idea of the Mandate of Heaven wasn't about exploiting the whole world, but about educating everyone. And it was with this beautiful belief that China, no matter how much it fell into fragmentation, came back to unity. In the 21st century, Hurari has a lovely idea that a new concept of a "global empire" is on the horizon. This could be a wonderful way to break down the old boundaries of nation-states and bring us all together under one big umbrella to solve some of the big problems we're facing, like protecting our planet and developing in a way that's sustainable.

And then there's the third order, which is the religious order, or the order of faith. It's so interesting how things like faith have been around since ancient times! As we said before, our ancestors, Homo sapiens, had the amazing ability to imagine things that didn't exist in the real world. They used this ability to imagine things like ghosts and gods, and from this came different types of religions, such as polytheism, monotheism, nature worship or ancestor worship.

But what Harari wants to point out is that actually, many of the ideas and values of modern society are also essentially beliefs. Take the humanist ideology of early modern Europe, for example. This actually worships and sanctifies human nature! Harari said that modern society is against torture. This means that we should treat criminals with care and respect, even though it's not always easy to know what's best for them. We believe that this is the best way to maintain their dignity and show them love and support. And this is also true of social humanism. They truly believe that equality is the most important value. They feel that it's wrong for the rich to have special privileges because it represents valuing money more than humanity. Similarly, all these values and the drive for human rights, freedom, and so on in modern society are essentially part of our shared beliefs.

I know this is a lot to take in, but stick with me! According to Harari's explanation, are all the achievements of human civilisation just a fantasy? I wonder if there's a real basis for all these skyscrapers, smart computers, and satellite rockets that we've built? Harari's answer is a reassuring one: "I can't say there isn't any at all." And now, we come to the last part: the scientific revolution.

Part Four: The Scientific Revolution

The wonderful thing about science is that it's essentially a system of knowledge. But how on earth did this amazing body of knowledge create the incredible things we see around us today, like the atomic bomb and man's first steps on the moon? Harari says it's because there are three major differences between the scientific system of knowledge and everything that has come before it.

The first thing is being open and honest about what we don't know.

Harari made a very interesting point: the scientific revolution is not so much a "revolution of knowledge", but more a "revolution of ignorance". I know it might be hard to believe, but think about this: in the old days, whether it was Christianity, Buddhism or Confucianism, they all assumed that all the important things in the world were already contained in the Bible, Buddhist scriptures, the Four Books and Five Classics, etc. The problems that weren't written in the classics just weren't written in the classics. Oh, you know, things that weren't written in the classics, well, they just weren't that important. Take the Four Books and Five Classics, for instance. They don't tell you how to build a ship, so building a ship must be unimportant and a bit of a strange and wondrous art. If you want to understand the world, there's no better place to start than these wonderful classics. Just read them thoroughly and you'll be on your way! Modern science is different. It knows it doesn't know everything, so it's all about sharing ideas and learning from each other.

The second is all about observation and mathematics.

This is a really important difference between modern science and the knowledge systems of the past. Harari gives a lovely example of a religion called Manichaeism. This religion believes that everything in this world is a struggle between good and evil. Evil is thought to have created matter, while good created spirit. Have you ever thought about how this kind of religion can basically be said to be omnipotent? It can explain everything! Let's say my computer breaks down. Why does it break down? Oh dear, that's a shame! I guess that means evil has affected my computer. I got a great programmer to help me fix my computer. That's a wonderful way of overcoming evil! So, the question is, did it tell you how to fix your computer? Oh, goodness, no! So while it explains everything, it doesn't make any sense, which can be a bit confusing!

Modern science is all about observation and mathematics, which is really fascinating! I'm sorry to say that what you call an "observation" is actually just verification. I totally get it. You think your computer is broken because of evil. Can you verify that? I'm really sorry, but you can't. I can see you're stuck in a bit of a loop here. But when I say that my computer is broken because the motherboard is burned out, and I replace the motherboard, that is knowledge that can be verified. Of course, modern science can use mathematical tools to figure out how much current will burn out the motherboard. This will help us create a general law and theory about computer damage.

And finally, we have the use of existing theories to gain new capabilities!

This is also explained really well! It's so interesting to think about how innovations in ancient societies were essentially random. In the course of labour, an occasional craftsman would discover that a tool was more efficient when improved in this way. Then, they would share their insights with others, passing them down through word of mouth. But modern science can start from existing theories, summarise the laws, and show us the direction of innovation, rather than relying on craftsmen's eureka moments.

But the scientific revolution has also brought about a new way of imagining things. Many of us believe that science and technology can keep progressing and that human society can keep moving forward. It's so interesting how this belief has become a cornerstone of how our society works! I'd love to know why! You know, back in 2016, the United States was already $22.8 trillion in debt. Can you believe it? And it was borrowing money to develop! I'm sure you're a very clever person, but I'm curious: why do you still believe that the United States is capable of repaying this money and will not go bankrupt? The reason is that you have faith in America's ability to keep growing and innovating, and as long as it keeps moving forward, it can keep playing the debt game. This is just how modern nations and modern finance work!

However, Harari also makes a great point. The scientific revolution, like all revolutions in history, is the result of a continuous leap in human imagination. And it will bring some pretty amazing material benefits! But, you know, these leaps aren't always good for us as individuals. It's important to remember that the rapid expansion of European nations, capitalising on their technological superiority, brought profound disaster to the world. It's so sad to think that in just over 20 years, from 1885 to 1908, six million people died in the Congo as a result of colonisation. Secondly, the rapid development of science and technology has unfortunately led to a widening gap between the rich and the poor on a global scale. This makes it increasingly difficult for countries that are less developed to catch up with those that are more advanced. It's so sad! Calculations show that today, workers in Africa and Indonesia don't earn as much food as they did 500 years ago. So, global economic growth might actually be a huge trap that leaves more people hungry and in need of help.

In a nutshell, A Brief History of Humankind takes a close look at our species and how we've developed over time. Let's be honest, we're a species that lives in both imagination and reality. This amazing ability to live in a "dual reality" has allowed us to achieve incredible things. But it's also put most of us in a pretty tough spot, from the peasants who were oppressed by the gods and kings in ancient times to the labourers who are now exploited by capitalism and consumerism. Instead of changing the way we think about things fundamentally, each new idea has brought with it new challenges and opportunities. As we've become more creative, we've also faced new difficulties.

I'll tell you, Harari didn't come to this conclusion to be an alarmist or to make a name for himself. He wasn't trying to make you feel anxious to get your approval. He just wanted to look ahead to the future on behalf of all of us. I'd love to know your thoughts on this! Because today's technological progress has reached a point where we have the amazing potential to cross biological boundaries and use technology to transform ourselves and complete the next step in our evolution. So, it seems that the way species evolve has gone from genetic evolution to division of labour evolution in the past, and it might even continue to progress from division of labour evolution to technological evolution in the future!

In the traditional view, this doesn't seem like a bad thing at all! But as you now know from A Brief History of Humankind, you realise that there are precisely deeper crises and transformations hidden behind this, my friend. I just want to go over one more thing. Harari's point is that behind every revolution and leap lies great suffering for individual human beings, and this one will be no exception. Hraley's speech at Tsinghua University in 2016 goes into more detail about what he says in the book. He talks about how a minority of human beings could actually use technology to modify their bodies and minds to become superhuman beings with immortality or memories like computers. This could lead to a widening of class inequality to interspecies inequality, which would undoubtedly cause immense suffering to the majority of our fellow humans. As A Brief History of Humankind wraps up, it suggests that the best thing we can do now is to try to influence the direction they go. So, it seems that we might soon be able to transform our desires as well! This raises an interesting question: what do we really want to want for ourselves? It's a question we might not have thought about yet, but it's definitely worth pondering! If we don't think about this question, we probably haven't figured it out yet, my friends.