Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

The real difference between us and chimpanzees is the mythical glue that binds together large numbers of individuals, families and groups. This glue has made us the masters of creation.

Dogs that were most attentive to the needs and feelings of their human companions got extra care and food, and were more likely to survive.

the average forager had wider, deeper and more varied knowledge of her immediate surroundings than most of her modern descendants.

How many young college graduates have taken demanding jobs in high-powered firms, vowing that they will work hard to earn money that will enable them to retire and pursue their real interests when they are thirty-five? But by the time they reach that age, they have large mortgages, children to school, houses in the suburbs that necessitate at least two cars per family, and a sense that life is not worth living without really good wine and expensive holidays abroad. What are they supposed to do, go back to digging up roots? No, they double their efforts and keep slaving away.

So true

The story of the luxury trap carries with it an important lesson. Humanity’s search for an easier life released immense forces of change that transformed the world in ways nobody envisioned or wanted.

How to avoid luxury trap?

and in ancient times there were memory professionals who

one profession which died

People dream for years about finding love but are rarely satisfied when they find it. Some become anxious that their partner will leave; others feel that they have settled cheaply, and could have found someone better.

haha

This is why today a country’s credit rating is far more important to its economic well-being than are its natural resources.

You need to make a conscious effort not to know what time it is.