Comments on: Book review – The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

By: dgjohnsonstein

dgjohnsonstein — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 03:07:58 +0000

I believe this is the most important book I have ever read. It is at least as important as many others. It’s a must read for historians, anthropologists, archeologists, and other -ologists.

Frankly it was a surprising read and very refreshing.

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By: Book review – Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:58:12 +0000

[…] from a nomadic hunter-gatherer existence to settled societies (in the process giving nods to both Graeber & Wengrow and James Scott). Another example is how he delves into the nature of nervous systems, how they are […]

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By: Post daily readings in WP 10/03/2022 | "What Are You Sinking About?"

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 07:59:10 +0000

[…] Book review – The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity | The Inquisitive Biologist […]

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By: Dias

Dias — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:45:56 +0000

Thanks for sharing the links, I was also rather skeptical of the authors’ presentation of evidence and “methodology”, despite all the interesting stuff along the way. I’ve been speeding through the book after about half of it just to sample the areas covered and don’t bother too much with the authors’ arguments/proofs supporting the factfulness of their views.

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By: inquisitivebiologist

inquisitivebiologist — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 11:59:36 +0000

In reply to bormgans.

Thanks, it’ll be interesting to read professional responses and see what I have missed or am just not knowledgeable enough about.

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By: bormgans

bormgans — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 10:38:11 +0000

There’s indeed lots of interesting questions and thought provoking stuff here, but there were just too much troubling signals surrounding this book’s methodology/treatment of sources for me to continue reading it, as I’m not in the mood to second guess everything the authors claim as fact. I’m sure there is much to learn about archeology in the book, but as social science / evolutionary ecology it seems muddled at best.

See:

https://www.persuasion.community/p/a-flawed-history-of-humanity (Admittedly that text also makes a mistake viz. Steckley, see the comments.)

http://www.focaalblog.com/2021/12/22/chris-knight-wrong-about-almost-everything/

& Appiah’s reply to Graeber’s reply to his original critique:

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/01/13/the-roots-of-inequality-an-exchange/

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