Bregman, Rutger, and Elizabeth Manton. _Humankind: A Hopeful History_. 1st english-Language edition. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2020. # Progressive Summary Like a determined detective, Rutger Bregman goes back to the scene of some of history's most famous crimes, ones that have implicated humans as inherently evil and corrupt. And he uncovers evidence that the crime scenes have been staged. He challenges major cultural narratives, such as Golding's Lord of the Flies (children in a state of nature are barbaric), Jared Diamond's account of the collapse of Easter Island, Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, Milgram's obedience experiment, and the murder of Kitty Genovese and the bystander effect. He comes up with an alternative explanation of why the human race has committed such atrocities. Ironically, it is because of our gift for empathy, which acts as a spotlight on some, to the exclusion of others. Empathy is related to oxytocin, and high oxytocin can also lead to mistrust of strangers. # Key Points ## Evil One of the most striking things about this book is the number of authority figures and experts which Bregman debunks: Jared Diamond's account of the Easter Island collapse, Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, etc. Beyond supporting his thesis that humans are innately benevolent, the more disturbing implication is how much of what we presume to know is actually false. I can't even take Bregman at face value. What saves me from radical doubt? How do I avoid Cartesian scepticism? Easter Island - Deforestation occurred because of rats. - The population was never very large to begin with. Stanford Prison Experiment - The guards were instructed to be sadistic and cruel. They were actors playing parts. - The prisoner who was acting up hysterically faked it, because he wanted to leave to study for exams. - Other experiments have failed to replicate the results. Milgram obedience experiment - This is probably the weakest of Bregman's points. - Most subjects continued because they thought they were helping science, not out of obedience. Bystander effect - Marie Lindegaard found that 90 percent of situations had bystanders rushing in to help. - In life or death situations, the more bystanders there are, the more will help. - Most of the supposed 38 bystanders were sleeping or thought she was a drunk woman. - 2 of them called the police, who never came. - Kitty Genoese died in the arms of a neighbour. ## Children Children display a sense of right or wrong as early as 6 months. Yale has an Infant Cognition Center called "Baby Lab". In 2007, researcher Kiley Hamlin published a study that described an experiment which showed this. Infants were shown puppets that were either nice or mean to each other, and when given a choice, they would choose the one that was nice. Later, Hamlin came up with another variation. They ## War Leading causes of death of British soldiers in WW2: - Other: 1% - Chemical: 2% - Blast, crush: 2% - Landmine, booby trap: 10% - Bullet, anti-tank mine: 10% - Mortar, grenade, aerial bomb, shell: 75% Most casualties in war are inflicted from a distance. Most soliders cannot bring themselves to gut another human being. The vast majority of bayonets went unused. ## Power Bregman found that throughout most of human history, it was the nice guys who got promoted to leaders. However, once in power, they would usually become entitled, and would create myths or stories to justify their positions of power. Some intriguing experiments that he cites: - Cookie Monster experiment - 3 people would be subjects, one of them being chosen as leader; 5 cookies would be given to them as refreshments; 1 cookie would always be left on the plate as etiquette; but the 4th cookie was invariable eaten by the leader - People in power don't feel empathy. Their mirror neurons don't fire as much. - People given a flash car to drive wouldn't stop for pedestrians. Perhaps women show more empathy because they have been out of power so much, and have always needed to empathize with men. We share 99% of our DNA with bonobos. Bonobo groups are run by the females, and they usually choose the nice guys for mates. # Resonances # Oppositions Listening to Michael Saylor on the What is Money podcast, he talks a lot about how using missiles was a key strategy in human survival. I like Bregman's alternative idea that using missiles was necessary to overcome our innate empathy. "Othering" is also a way of distancing. # Quotes > “I’m going to be honest. Originally, I wanted to bring Milgram’s experiments crashing down. When you’re writing a book that champions the good in people, there are several big challengers on your list. William Golding and his dark imagination. Richard Dawkins and his selfish genes. Jared Diamond and his demoralising tale of Easter Island. And, of course, Philip Zimbardo, the world’s best-known living psychologist. > > But topping my list was Stanley Milgram. I know of no other study as cynical, as depressing and at the same time as famous as his experiments at the shock machine.”