BOOK · [359]
Sapiens
History
A short, opinionated history of how Homo sapiens out-cooperated every other hominid by inventing shared fictions like money, religion, and limited liability.
Endorsed By
16 People- Bill Gates
- Charlie Munger
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Daniel Ek
“One of the most-talked-about books of the last couple of years, and for good reason. Both sobering and conservatively optimistic in equal measure.”
From Ek's curated list at One Grand Books (originally compiled for Vulture's Spotify CEO favorite books feature).
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Demis Hassabis
“There's not many times I read a book where I've come out with 20 new ideas I hadn't thought about before and that book made me think like that.”
Hassabis singles out Sapiens as unusually generative — most books don't shift his model of the world, this one did.
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Mark Zuckerberg
“Following the Muqaddimah, which was a history from the perspective of an intellectual in the 1300s, Sapiens is a contemporary exploration of many similar questions. I'm looking forward to reading these different perspectives.”
Twelfth A Year of Books pick, announced June 15, 2015. Zuckerberg later hosted Harari for a public conversation as part of his 2019 personal challenge.
- Naval Ravikant
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Reed Hastings
Hastings calls Sapiens 'extraordinary' in the Tim Ferriss interview, citing it for understanding the big picture of human history.
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Reid Hoffman
On Tim Ferriss's podcast (episode #101), Hoffman names Sapiens as a book that has shaped his thinking about the evolution of humanity and where it goes next.
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Keith Rabois
Recommended for entrepreneurs on his reading list.
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Ray Dalio
Listed on Ray Dalio's bookmarked.club page.
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David Sacks
“Yuval Harari's Sapiens had a big impact on how I approach VC. The theme of the book is that humans obsess over narratives.”
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Patrick O'Shaughnessy
“This book was so entertaining and useful. It provides a concise history of humankind and outlines why we have the psychology we do today.”
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Changpeng Zhao
“Gives me a greater perspective about how humans emerged and why we behave the way we do.”
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Raoul Pal
“enjoyed reading 'Sapiens'”
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Melinda Gates
Listed on their bookmarked.club page.
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Bill Gurley
“I really enjoyed [Sapiens]”