Rutger Bregman.
Humankind: a hopeful history.
Bloomsbury. 2020
Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis that goes right back to the beginning of our species. Thinking the worst of others not only affects how we regard other people, but our politics and economics, too.
In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world’s most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the cooperation seen in the aftermath of the Blitz, the hidden flaws in the Stanford Prison Experiment to the true story of the Kitty Genovese murder, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can change how we think and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.
It is time for a new view of human nature.