# A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett

4 Hacker News commenters recommended A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an accessible book on how intelligence and the brain evolved, and one that changes how readers think about AI and AGI.

## Why people recommend it

- Changes thinking about AI (1 comments): "shifted my thinking completely about AI and how far we are from AGI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46397306))
- Accessible introduction to the topic (1 comments): "is a good, accessible book on this topic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47448622))
- Teaches a lot about the brain (1 comments): "I like it so far, I've learned a lot about the brain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47317098))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/g-del-escher-bach.md): 47 recommend
- [Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-fast-and-slow.md): 17 recommend
- [Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thinking-in-systems.md): 17 recommend
- [The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins](https://hackerapproved.com/p/selfish-gene.md): 14 recommend
- [Cosmos by Carl Sagan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cosmos.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0008560102?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780008560102) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett", https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-brief-history-of-intelligence/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).