Welcome to Litsy!

This is a book of finding good in humans. The author argues where good people stood up at bad points in history. I liked his arguments against some of Jared Diamond‘s theories in his book Collapse. Overall pick, enjoyed his perspectives of good.

Wonderful book. Must read.

Pluralistic Ignorance
We are all trapped by it.

Most of the times these are inversely proportional
Power and kindness
Power and modesty

Most people, deep down are pretty decent.

Non-fiction & hipster drinks 💃💃💃

Confession. I have no idea how the Internet works. Neither does anyone I've ever asked. They mumble something about servers and then change the subject.

I SHALL SOON FIND OUT!

(Unless this book is anything like A Brief History of Time, in which case it will leave me even more confused and with the feeling that the scientific community is trolling me.)

Check in: #JoysofJune #readathon
Still reading the top row; Botton row finished. #nonfiction #audiomystery #essays #ShetlandIslands #mysteryseries #JimmyPerez

A trip to the library today, and #bookmail, Humankind. Appears I am on an Ann Cleeves kick?! #librarybooks

And finished already! It's a very optimistic view of humanity, but it seems to track: when it points out weaknesses in studies, I've heard of those criticisms before. When it talks about studies, they track with what I know. Though I think some other people have complained about him using modern nomadic people as examples as if they're just like ancient humans, he doesn't: he says they're the closest we've got.

I'm finding this a really quick read, and rather restorative when most people think badly of humanity! I knew about Gina Perry's work on uncovering Stanley Milgram's manipulations of his experiments (her book “Behind the Shock Machine“ is great), and I have her book on the Robbers Cave experiment too (haven't read it yet), and the takedown of Zimbardo's work wasn't too new to me either... but picking them all apart together is new to me.

If you‘re open minded then I would highly encourage this book.

A look at the history of humanity through the lens of kindness rather than cynacism. A fundamental belief that humans are by nature good and not governed by self-interest and selfishness and backed up by true events. After reading it's hard not to feel optimistic about the future.

Books like this one are necessary to restore faith in humanity. Extensive research and complex studies converge towards the idea that humans are eminently good and kind.
"We‘re living in the richest, safest, healthiest era ever. So why don‘t we realise this? It‘s simple. Because the news is about the exceptional, and the more exceptional an event is – be it a terrorist attack, violent uprising, or natural disaster – the bigger its newsworthiness."

Well, that's June done and dusted, just about. My #bookspin and #doublespin books both got read and I feel it was a good reading month all round! I have a handful of pages of Feeding Britain left to read which I'll get to this evening, and I've read the very beginning of one of the other books which I'll leave on the list for next month.

I got my June #bookspin finished. Yay! Super glad I read this. A book that explains why we humans are actually pretty much kind & decent people but often think the evidence is for the opposite conclusion. Uplifting and has left me with a lot to think about.

My book haul for May is growing 📚

A little bit of reading before bed. Due to painful joints today I can't hold up the book myself, but Miss Owl is always there for me when I need her.

It was just as positive as I needed in the start of this January.

Are humans inherently evil? Or, are we good, and the media portrays us that way? “News is to the mind what sugar is to the body.” So far, an intriguing read!

My little humans are always early risers, but this morning they‘re still 💤 Glorious! So a few chapters for me of this fascinating book that has a message that‘s so needed right now #kindness Have a gentle day littens ❤️

Ahhhh the true Dutch

Not the idiots who fled the Netherlands and formed my town 🤢🤢🤢🤢

This is exactly what I needed right now! The (Dutch) author presents readers with studies, news articles, and other incidents which supposedly support the idea that humans are selfish, killers, and just all around terrible. The twist here is maybe we aren't actually inherently "bad", and a deeper examination into these stories show a different narrative. A different, and necessary, look at the kindness of humans. ♥️ #nonfiction

A brilliant book. So engaging with a great, clean writing style that‘s informative & well-researched without being dense. Shows how humans have evolved to be cooperative & social. Wars, cruelty & ‘strongmen‘ are aberrations rather than how we must behave to get ahead. Challenges our thinking (eg the news gives us a skewed - negative- view of humanity) & gives hope for the future, if we can harness our better instincts.

AWESOME. It gives you so much hope about mankind. We tend to have a gloomy view of human nature and he uses a lot of great examples and real life stories to show that in general... most people are nice. Highly recommend. You will smile a lot. You will tell all your friends about this book. You will be happy you read it and you might just apply your new insights in your daily life.
(in the picture is the original version in Dutch)

Just finished Rutger Bregman talking to Lily Cole about his book, Humankind. Really excellent talk. Well worth a watch and should be available on #HayFestival site for free. Sorry for terrible pic 😂

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-ha...

I found this to be a interesting read. It's an excerpt from Humankind by Rutger Bergman. I learned some things about Golding I didn't know. But I'm glad that real life went much better than the book. I would like to know more about the their time on the island.

Oof, there is so much evolutionary psychology in this book, and for those passages? Citation fricking needed.

The explorations of current sociology are great! The deep dives into the story behind stories we think we know, revealing the standard conclusions to be dubious? Fantastic!

And then he‘s back to just... these suppositions. And I just hit an all religion is an intentional creation for manipulation of the masses passage, and ugh.

1) This book is very hope-filled and I wish it were out now to recommend
2) The author has already ripped holes in one of my least-favorite ~classics~ AND in the bad statistics used by one of my least favorite pop-science linguists, and I‘m still in part one.
#ARC