Sapiens
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harariby Yuval Noah Harari
Shares rank 4 of 51 history books by recommenders
Engaging, sweeping history of humankind that readers say changed how they see civilization and belief. Critics say it is loose with facts, especially on prehistory.
Engaging, sweeping history of humankind that readers say changed how they see civilization and belief. Critics say it is loose with facts, especially on prehistory.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 8 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: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 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
Engaging narrative of human history
“A fascinating look at how humans built civilizations, beliefs, and the modern world.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 on Hacker News “I really like the narrative in the book Sapiens”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What made you lose faith in God/Religion?” “That book is great as it is unsettling.”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Claude Opus 5” - Comment from 3 Jul 2026 in “Give Smart People the Tools to Do Smart Things”
Widely recommended to others
“a must-read, probably the book I've recommended more than any other”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute” “I think you'll find a lot of answers in Sapiens and Nexus”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “Measles surge in Utah sparks fears US could undo decades of progress” “I highly recommend reading Sapiens if someone hasn't.”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Living Human Brain Cells Play Doom on a CL1” - Comment from 18 May 2026 in “We let AIs run radio stations”
Explains shared beliefs and religion's role
“It talks about the history of "shared delusions" as you call them, as a critical piece for development of society.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Backing up Spotify” “he may contribute a more nuanced view on the role of religion in human culture”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Our Amish Language” “to know more about the history of religion too”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “Computer animator and Amiga fanatic Dick van Dyke turns 100” Readers wish they'd read it earlier
“It would have changed the course of my life.”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “Ask HN: Got Anything to Kill Boredom?” “I wish I’d read it 20 years earlier.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” “Wish I’d read it when I was 18.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Loose with facts and inaccuracies
“There is some pretty dubious stuff in it. I think he is more interested in telling a good sounding story than looking at the research.”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute” “Sapiens is super loose about interpreting facts carefully, particularly the prehistory part.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Lion-man” “it has been heavily criticized by the scientific community as having lots of inaccuracies”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What is the most career altering course or book you have gone through?” - Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Steve Wozniak cheered after telling students they have AI – actual intelligence”
- Comment from 26 Sep 2026 in “Harari vs. Henrich: What science says about human evolution”
Weak prehistory and romanticized past
“The author romanticized past life and made claims that life was leisurely until agriculture came along”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi Games (Yields) Reduced Burnout Risk” “A book for which literally zero professional archaeologists or anthropologists were consulted”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute” “Sapiens is super loose about interpreting facts carefully, particularly the prehistory part.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Lion-man” - Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute”
Prefers story over research
“There is some pretty dubious stuff in it. I think he is more interested in telling a good sounding story than looking at the research.”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “The past was not that cute” “more fact based AND have a positive outlook than sapiens”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Claude Opus 5”
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 HarariThis page | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Chip Warby Chris Miller | 13 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 29 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“sapiens (by harari) also seems a decent book though i have not gotten around to finishing it (yet)”
“the book, in its own inaccuracies, is a joke on the reader”
“it has been heavily criticized by the scientific community as having lots of inaccuracies”
“Sapiens is super loose about interpreting facts carefully, particularly the prehistory part.”
“more fact based AND have a positive outlook than sapiens”
“That book is great as it is unsettling.”
“he may contribute a more nuanced view on the role of religion in human culture”
“And I liked it. It's very insightful.”
“I think you'll find a lot of answers in Sapiens and Nexus”
“A fascinating look at how humans built civilizations, beliefs, and the modern world.”
“I really like the narrative in the book Sapiens”
“other people picked holes in it and persuaded me that it was worse than that”
“Recommend reading the sapiens book”
“Wish I’d read it when I was 18.”
“It would have changed the course of my life.”
“Incredible book. The point it makes isn't the killing among chimps being surprising.”
“the theories and histories laid out in Sapiens matches pretty squarly with what is taught at University at an undergraduate level”
“I highly recommend reading Sapiens if someone hasn't.”
“The author romanticized past life and made claims that life was leisurely until agriculture came along”
“I wish I’d read it 20 years earlier.”
“It talks about the history of "shared delusions" as you call them, as a critical piece for development of society.”
“to know more about the history of religion too”
“There is some pretty dubious stuff in it. I think he is more interested in telling a good sounding story than looking at the research.”
“A book for which literally zero professional archaeologists or anthropologists were consulted”
“a must-read, probably the book I've recommended more than any other”
“I think it was Sapiens that propagated this myth in recent times.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.