Humankind: A Hopeful History

I've just finished Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. It provides a lot of strong evidence for an optimistic rather than cynical take on human nature.

It also helped me a lot. It taught me the ethics of rational self interest. It helps me to this day when I discuss my salary for example. Also, relationships work better when you know what you want, you have to give your partner the chance to do something for you every now and then, that works best when you have personality. I struggled with this. To be able to say I love you one must first be able to say I. For me the best parts are those about personal freedom. I read most things Ayn Rand wrote and I really enjoyed it. Somehow, HN does not like Ayn Rand. I don't understand it really. I also read Rutger Bregman's Human kind, some people say it is the opposite of Atlas Shrugged, but I disagree strongly. I like both books and I think they can be part of unifying philosophy. Perhaps Paul Graham's "What you can't say" [0] is an explanation. I believe Ayn says some things that you can't really say anymore, but perhaps they are true. [0]: http://www.paulgraham.com/say.html

I haven't read the English translation, but Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman had a profound influence on my trust in people, and expecting good intentions by default. Especially during bad times (COVID, geopolitics, etc.) it was a source of well-founded positivity that I needed.

Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. Absolutely fascinating and refreshingly positive.