Humankind
2019
- human beings
- kindness
- humanity
- human behavior
- nyt:hardcover-nonfiction=2020-06-21
- philosophical anthropology
- altruism
- freed persons
- fiction
- brothers
The story
Der Historiker Rutger Bregman setzt sich in seinem Buch mit dem Wesen des Menschen auseinander. Anders als in der westlichen Denktradition angenommen ist der Mensch nicht böse, sondern, so Bregman, im Gegenteil: von Grund auf gut. Und geht man von dieser Prämisse aus, ist es möglich, die Welt und den Menschen in ihr komplett neu und grundoptimistisch zu denken. In seinem mitreißend geschriebenen, überzeugenden Buch präsentiert Bregman Ideen für die Verbesserung der Welt. Sie sind innovativ und mutig und stimmen vor allem hoffnungsfroh.
What it’s like
Brisk, warmly sardonic nonfiction prose that reads like a clever friend talking through a stack of old studies over coffee. Short chapters, punchy section breaks, and a steady stream of anecdotes (castaways on far-off islands, wartime truces, famous psychology experiments picked apart and retold) keep the pages turning quickly, and the sentences are plain enough to read in short bursts on a train. The mood is buoyant and optimistic without being saccharine, with a skeptical streak that enjoys puncturing received wisdom. Dark material comes up, including war, prisons, and cruelty in institutions, but it is described at a distance and in summary, never lingered on or rendered graphically, so the intensity stays low-to-moderate and the emotional register stays hopeful. It suits a slow Sunday morning, a long commute, or a reader who wants to finish a book feeling more generous toward strangers. It is for readers who enjoy popular history and social science, who are tired of cynicism presented as realism, and who want their pessimism challenged with evidence and good storytelling.
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