The Dawn of Everything

The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. It retells human history from the perspective of modern archaeology and anthropology with a focus on North American natives and their influence on European philosophy or what we believe it to be.

I'd say so. I didn't dislike Sapiens, but found The Dawn of Everything to be deeper in many ways.

Read a lot this year — a lot more than most years. A few highlights: The making of the atomic bomb by Richard Rhodes was probably the best of the bunch. I read it because I see some parallels between the discovery of atomic power and the search for AGI, and wanted an insight on the ethics and decision making of the time. It didn't disappoint. The dawn of everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow was a solid read and retelling of how civilization began and evolved. The message by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I read in two sittings — it was that impactful. A reminder of how the oppressed becomes the oppressor again and again. "As it happens, you can See the world but never see the people in it" Other highlights: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt; re-read Thinking in Systems by Daniella Meadows; re-read Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat Zinn; The light eaters by Zoe Schlanger; I don't want to talk about it, by Terrence Real.

Just finished The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin, a tremendously accomplished music producer. It's a beautifully written guide to artistic work, but also a manual for a mindful life. Savor every page packed with insight, subtlety and poetic aphorisms. Also recommend The Dawn of Everything by Graeber & Wengrow, previously cited on this page. Next will be The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist. The two hefty volumes are staring at me from my desk...

dawn of everything by graeber & wengrow

For non-fiction, Graeber and Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything (which I'm still working through the references of as well, many of which are also good). For fiction, my sample size this year is sadly small but probably Becky Chambers's The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, the final(?) book in the Wayfarers (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet) series. A great end to the series, and given that it must have been plotted originally pre-2020 oddly contemporary.