Bregman cites Milgram’s Shock Experiment, Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment and the Bystander Effect, as evidence for the deep-rooted dogma within the social sciences of viewing human nature as fundamentally brutish. Thus, institutions created to protect humankind from its worst instincts end up facilitating the rise of the most crooked individuals.Īll foundational myths must be supported by the soft power of science and art, and the ‘veneer theory’ of civilisation is no exception. The collective dissatisfaction and anger of those residing in these societies are then amplified by the perverse incentive structure of the media ecosystem and exploited by manipulative politicians and businesspersons in their pursuit of power. ![]() When institutions are built assuming the worst of human nature, they facilitate the creation of deeply unequal and unhappy societies in the name of law. This assumption, according to Bregman, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. From Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan to Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, there is ample philosophical support for the assumption that humans are savage, selfish beings that need to be reined in by the coercive power of the State or the invisible hand of markets. He alleges that Western civilisation stands upon a long intellectual and cultural tradition that denies that deep down almost all humans are decent. Yet, the book has the potential to make us look at crucial questions about the condition of human societies afresh and ask whether philosophers and intellectuals in the Western canon have got something very wrong in seeing human nature as inherently violent.īregman approaches the issue by pulling the rug from under Enlightenment, the intellectual lodestar of Western democratic values and institutions. But Humankind has no room for counter-anecdotes. For instance, it is possible to argue that there is no conclusive evidence regarding the "goodness" of human nature because there were no Christmas Truces during the First World War after 1914. Anecdotes, if taken seriously, can prove almost any hypothesis. These examples, albeit heartwarming, are entirely anecdotal. To illustrate, he backs this claim with a motley crew of convenient examples, including the humanitarian response following Hurricane Katrina and the spontaneous Christmas Truce of 1914. It’s a daring idea that is, no doubt, open to challenge, especially given his way of proving it. It is time for a new view of human nature.Rutger Bregman, author of the New York Times bestseller, Humankind: A Hopeful History, attempts to address some important central questions of our times: Why do human societies today appear fundamentally broken, with depressing levels of inequality and a pathologically polarising media ecosystem? And what to do about it?īregman proposes a sweeping solution and one that overestimates its own merit – he asks us to put faith in the idea that humans are inherently decent and approach the problems plaguing our political life from this philosophical plane. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society. In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world's most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. ![]() By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too. ![]() Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. You'll learn a lot (I did) and you'll have good reason to feel better about the human race' Tim Harford 'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective' Yuval Noah Harari It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman and Daily Express Book of the Year 'Hugely, highly and happily recommended' Stephen Fry 'You should read Humankind.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |