Goliath's Curse
Goliath's Curse by Luke Kempby Luke Kemp
Shares rank 36 of 152 nonfiction books by recommenders
Readers praise it as a fresh look at human history and collapse, and recommend it strongly. Critics say its evidence is most convincing when it covers the paleolithic.
Readers praise it as a fresh look at human history and collapse, and recommend it strongly. Critics say its evidence is most convincing when it covers the paleolithic.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good take on collapse and history
“It's also refreshing to see human history being examined through that lens, like in Luke Kemp's "Goliath's Curse"”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “We've made the world too complicated” “I am hopeful for this one, most generalizations about collapse are not very good”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Humanity's Endgame” Strong recommendation, covers topic well
“I can strongly recommend the book Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Audio tapes reveal mass rule-breaking in Milgram's obedience experiments” “covers it pretty well I think”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “OpenAI, the US government and Persona built an identity surveillance machine”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Evidence weaker outside the paleolithic
“His evidence is most convincing when it's looking at the paleolithic”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Chimpanzees in Uganda locked in vicious 'civil war', say researchers”
Other nonfiction books people recommend
The four most recommended other nonfiction books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Eggby Cliff Stoll | 40 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Amusing Ourselves to Deathby Neil Postman | 36 | 0 | 100% | 9 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| The Anxious Generationby Jonathan Haidt | 24 | 12 | 67% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Bullshit Jobsby David Graeber | 20 | 12 | 63% | 8 | — | — |
| Goliath's Curseby Luke KempThis page | 6 | 1 | 86% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It's also refreshing to see human history being examined through that lens, like in Luke Kemp's "Goliath's Curse"”
“His evidence is most convincing when it's looking at the paleolithic”
“Wikipedia makes it sound like questionable at best.”
“I can strongly recommend the book Goliath's Curse by Luke Kemp”
“covers it pretty well I think”
“I am hopeful for this one, most generalizations about collapse are not very good”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.