A Brief History of Humanity

1. time: 13.5 billion years ago, the universe had matter, energy, time and space in their present form, forming physics

2. 3.8 billion years ago, molecules combined to form fine organisms, forming biology

3. 1.5 million years ago, human-like beings appeared

4. about 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began to create more complex structures

Major achievements: formation of different languages and cultures

Agricultural revolution.

The journey of the gluttonous gene: Ancient gathering, if encountered with high-energy food, in order to survive, would eat until they could not eat anymore. Just like today, humans still can't give up high energy diets, leading to obesity

Plant and animal discipline in agricultural societies

The concept of home and territory arises.

Human integration and unification.

Historical direction: unity will be divided only for a while, division will be unity is the trend

The emergence of money, empires and religions.

Scientific revolution

Science and empire come together

That is, 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens was also an insignificant creature, with the development of intelligence, began the cognitive revolution, then learned to grow wheat, gradually from nomadic life to settled life, then, the population soared, followed by disease, the emergence of territorial disputes, gradually began to human integration and unification (money, empire, religion); then began to start from Europe began the industrial revolution, until now ......

Mankind became the master of the Earth, and now it seemed that one more step would lead to the realm of the gods, with the hope of not only eternal youth, but also the divine power to create and destroy everything

But unfortunately, there really isn't much to be proud of in what humans have done on Earth, although we have dominated the environment, increased food production, built cities, built empires, and created a trade network that knows no borders, but has the suffering diminished, time and time again, and although the overall human capacity has increased dramatically, it hasn't necessarily improved the well-being of others, and often, has left other creatures to suffer greatly

In the past few decades, at least in terms of human living conditions, there has been real progress, famine and pestilence and war, have been reduced, however, the living conditions of other creatures are rapidly deteriorating at an unprecedented rate, and even human-related improvements, but also need to be observed for a long time, to be able to judge whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, whether they can continue

Although we have the highest intelligence and are the most unique creatures on the planet, we have never been able to find true satisfaction from the catastrophes we have wreaked on the surrounding creatures and ecosystems, only for our own comfort and entertainment.

In this book, in addition to describing human development from the most macroscopic point of view, the most important thing is to do a study on happiness, which does not lie in any objective condition such as wealth, health or even community, but in the compatibility between objective conditions and subjective expectations.

Biologically, the only way to be happy in the long term is to rely on the serotonin dopamine and oxytocin.

In this book happiness is not simply a matter of pleasant moments, more than painful ones, but rather, happiness depends on the whole of human life, which has meaning and value.

As Nietzsche said, as long as there is a reason to live, almost anything can be endured, life has meaning, even in difficult situations can be sweet, life has no meaning, even in the good times also spent like years.

It is also said here that the real source of suffering is not the feelings themselves, but the constant pursuit of feelings

If one wants to be free from suffering, one must understand that all one's subjective feelings are only momentary fluctuations, and one must stop pursuing certain feelings. In this way, although one endures pain, one no longer feels miserable, and although it is pleasant, it no longer disturbs the peace of mind, so the mind becomes clear and lucid. It is hard to imagine that it is like someone who has been standing on the beach for decades, always trying to catch the good waves and make them stop forever, while at the same time trying to avoid certain bad waves, hoping that certain waves will never come near