YoYo Book Reading group was formed in 2017. We have read a few novels last year. Early this year, we decided to challenge ourselves with the first non-fiction book, “Sapiens: The Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Harari. The English version of the book was published in 2014, and soon it was listed as a New York Times best-selling book and quickly translated into 45 languages.
The book describes how human history has been shaped by a couple of major revolutions. These revolutions have enabled humans to take over the globe and put humankind on the verge of playing gods and overcoming natural selection. Many arguments of the book have sparked great debates in our LINE group and most of the conversation was recorded in the YoYo forum : viewtopic.php?f=45&t=4526.
For many of YoYo members who did not get time to read the book, here are some referencing materials for our meeting discussion on 6/12:
1) Banana in the Heaven, TEDxJaffa, by Yuval Noah Harari:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZa4sdIwV04
2) Sapiens – Why you need to read this book?
https://medium.com/@HeathEvans/sapiens- ... bde126f2ea
3) Notes on – Sapiens: The Brief History of Humankind
https://medium.com/ceoeducation/notes-o ... e35553bd7d
If you have time to explore more on the subject, here are Dr. Harari’s lectures:
1) Coursera: A Brief History of Humankind with Dr. Yuval Noah Harari (Courses on YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ4eg7Z ... di&index=2
2) Yuval Harari: "Techno-Religions and Silicon Prophets" | Talks at Google
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6BK5Q_Dblo
Questions Suggested for Discussion:
- 1) What makes us human?
According to the author, human history has been shaped by three major revolutions: Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution and Scientific Revolution. In your opinion, which one is the most important to humankind? Why is that so?
2) Agricultural Revolution:- a) Are we Sapiens only pillaging the natural resources and always acting as the “terminator” to other species on the earth?
b) Why does the author say it is the history’s biggest fraud? Do you agree?
c) Did it set humankind on the road to prosperity or perdition? Why?
“A natural order is a stable order. There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in it. In contrast, an imagined order is always in danger of collapse, because it depends on myths, and myths vanish once people stop believing in them.”- a) How do you feel about living in a world filled with “make believe” orders (laws, morals, money, corporations, etc.)?
b) What are some of the imagined orders that have collapsed? What are the ones shaping up in our generation? Can people get away from these imagined realities? Why? Can we “improve” them?
c) Is “justice” an imagined order as well? Do you agree that “there is no justice in history”?
- a) With the rise of individualism, is the collapse of the family and the local community a good thing or bad thing for sapiens?
b) What is the future of the relationships between individuals and the state?
c) Will states replace more family functions?
d) What services and responsibilities do you want the state to do for you?
- a) "We are far more powerful than our ancestors, but are we much happier?" Why or why not? (http://www.ynharari.com/topic/happiness/)
b) What is "the meaning of life?" ( Harari Interview on Drugs and the meaning of life (video 7:00-12:20) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ6IS1Upc70
c) Are human beings evolved for happiness? Do you think all the fictional constructs (i.e.imagined orders) and the technological innovation that we've come up with have contributed to or detracted from our pursued individual and collective happiness?
("Will the Future Be Human?": Dr. Harari's speech at World Economy Forum on 1/24/18
https://www.weforum.org/events/world-ec ... e-be-human )
7) Free round table chat:- a) Name one argument/concept from the book that you agree with most and one you question about.
b) How would you recommend (or simply just describe) this book to others?
c) What could be done for a better book reading process?
d) Next book and group leader selection.
- a) Are we Sapiens only pillaging the natural resources and always acting as the “terminator” to other species on the earth?
Agenda:
6:45 ~ 7:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
7:00 ~ 7:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
7:10 ~ 7:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
7:50 ~ 8:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
8:10 ~ 8:25pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
8:25 ~ 9:05pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
9:05 ~ 9:25pm Summarization (20 mins)
9:25 ~ 9:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:當天請準時於 6:45 pm 到達 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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注意事項:
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌,但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先閱讀過文章,並仔細想過所有的問題,謝謝合作!
給新朋友的話:
1. 請事先準備 2~3 分鐘的英語自我介紹;會議結束前可能會請你發表 1~2 分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題,並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行,參加者應具備中等英語會話能力,對任一討論問題,能夠以 5 到 10 句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前,可以先來觀摩三次,觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。