The World's Best Book Summaries
What are some examples of cultural evolution in humans? How do these examples shed light on our values and assumptions today? We’ll cover five examples of cultural evolution in humans and look at how our cultural assumptions are formed rather than innate.
What happens in the ancient epic when King Gilgamesh seeks immortality? How does Gilgamesh’s immortality-search align with Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey? And why isn’t Gilgamesh successful? We’ll cover the elements of King Gilgamesh’s search for immortality and discuss why he had to fail in this endeavor, according to the standards of the hero’s journey popularized in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
What is wheat’s history? Why is it one of the most important crops in the history of agriculture? The history of wheat is so important because it may have been the species that transformed humans from nomadic foragers to farmers. It has become one of the most successful species on the planet. We’ll cover wheat’s history and how it became such a dominant food source.
How did the idea of money develop? What does the history of money tell us about our world today? The history of money is one that starts with bartering and ends in the modern financial world. Money has been one of the primary factors in the creation of a global society. We’ll cover the origin of money and how the concept evolved over centuries.
What are the problems with capitalism? Are there ways around these problems? The problems with capitalism include inequality, exploitation, and aggressive greed. These problems don’t make capitalism inherently evil, but they are hard to rectify. We’ll look at the three biggest problems with capitalism.
What is Peugeot’s origin story? What does its story say about how we treat imaginary entities? We’ll cover the origin of Peugeot and what it means to be a limited liability company.
What are non-theistic religions? Is nontheism different than atheism? What is nontheism’s definition? Non-theistic religions are religions that do not require or espouse the belief in a God or gods. Non-theistic religions often don’t say God doesn’t exist, as atheism does; gods just aren’t part of their belief systems. We’ll cover some of the most common non-theistic religions, go deeper into the nontheism definition, and look at how they influence the world today.
Who is the goddess Inanna? How does Inanna’s journey to the underworld follow the hero’s journey, as described in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces? We’ll cover the Sumerian goddess Inanna’s journey to the underworld and how it conforms to the template of the hero’s journey.
The phrase “know your enemy” comes from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. What did he mean when he said you should know your enemy? How did he suggest you do it? Sun Tzu says, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” We’ll cover how knowing your enemy gives you the advantage. We’ll also cover what to look for in order to accurately read your enemy.
What was the Agricultural Revolution? How did it affect homo sapiens, and how did it affect the rest of the animal kingdom? The Agricultural Revolution was the moment in human history, between 9500 and 8500 BC, when Sapiens started shifting from forager lifestyles to a life revolving around agriculture. The revolution started independently in China, the Middle East, and Central America. We’ll cover the causes of the Agricultural Revolution and how it impacted both humans and animals.