Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

Interbreeding Theory,

‘Replacement Theory’

If that is the case, the lineages of all contemporary humans can be traced back, exclusively, to East Africa, 70,000 years ago. We are all ‘pure Sapiens’.

But if the Interbreeding Theory is right, there might well be genetic differences between Africans, Europeans and Asians that go back hundreds of thousands of years. This is political dynamite, which could provide material for explosive racial theories.

It turned out that 1–4 per cent of the unique human DNA of modern populations in the Middle East and Europe is Neanderthal DNA. That’s not a huge amount, but it’s significant. A second shock came several months later, when DNA extracted from the fossilised finger from Denisova was mapped. The results proved that up to 6 per cent of the unique human DNA of modern Melanesians and Aboriginal Australians is Denisovan DNA.

There must have been a point when the two populations were already quite different from one another, but still capable on rare occasions of having sex and producing fertile offspring. Then another mutation severed this last connecting thread, and they went their separate evolutionary ways.

When Charles Darwin indicated that Homo sapiens was just another kind of animal, people were outraged.

This ability to speak about fictions is the most unique feature of Sapiens language.

The secret was probably the appearance of fiction. Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths.

Judicial systems are rooted in common legal myths.