Who We Are and How We Got Here
Who We Are and How We Got Here by David Reichby David Reich
Shares rank 19 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended for being scientifically rigorous and terminologically precise; one critic says it discounts complexity in neighboring fields.
Recommended for being scientifically rigorous and terminologically precise; one critic says it discounts complexity in neighboring fields.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not 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
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not 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, valuable
“Who we are and how we got here (great)”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “I got a lot out of his 2018 book”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution” “Absolutely worth reading.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Ancient DNA reveals pervasive directional selection across West Eurasia [pdf]” Scientifically rigorous and precise
“His views that I've read [0, 1] are scientifically rigorous and terminologically precise, deftly navigating the politics”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution” Handles politics deftly
“His views that I've read [0, 1] are scientifically rigorous and terminologically precise, deftly navigating the politics”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Discounts complexity in adjacent subjects
“He simply commits the same error as many other other experts in discounting the complexity of subjects he's adjacent to”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Landmark ancient-genome study shows surprise acceleration of human evolution”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella Meadows | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Who We Are and How We Got Hereby David ReichThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I got a lot out of his 2018 book”
“He simply commits the same error as many other other experts in discounting the complexity of subjects he's adjacent to”
“His views that I've read [0, 1] are scientifically rigorous and terminologically precise, deftly navigating the politics”
“Absolutely worth reading.”
“Who we are and how we got here (great)”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.