Humankind
Humankind by Rutger Bregmanby Rutger Bregman
Shares rank 18 of 51 history books by recommenders
Readers recommend it as a fact-based, hopeful take on human nature that is more positive than Sapiens, with examples of kindness in hard times. One reader rejects its main thesis.
Readers recommend it as a fact-based, hopeful take on human nature that is more positive than Sapiens, with examples of kindness in hard times. One reader rejects its main thesis.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: 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
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 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
Worth reading
“It's worth a read, as it also dispels other experiments in human behaviour that have subsequently been difficult to replicate”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Audio tapes reveal mass rule-breaking in Milgram's obedience experiments” “covers this and is worth a read”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “William Golding's Island of Savagery”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history 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 Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Humankindby Rutger BregmanThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“more fact based AND have a positive outlook than sapiens”
“The book gives a lot of examples of where and how the beautiful sides op human nature surface in difficult times.”
“I read “Humankind” by Rutger Bregman and now think this is not true.”
“It's worth a read, as it also dispels other experiments in human behaviour that have subsequently been difficult to replicate”
“covers this and is worth a read”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.