Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World

Unstoppable Us, Volume 1 is a middle grade, illustrated, historical monograph that synthesizes scientific, social scientific, and historical research on humanity’s early prehistory. The text, published in 2022, is aimed at an audience of about 10-14 years in age and explains how our human species, Homo sapiens, rose to global dominance. The book’s author, Yuval Noah Harari, credits human evolution and adaptability, cooperation, and ingenuity for this rise. The book received excellent reviews, with The New York Times calling it “gripping and thought provoking” (Schwartz, John. “Yuval Noah Harari Unspools the Story of Human History—for Kids.” The New York Times, 25 Nov. 2022). It is the first in a series of four books, the final two of which are forthcoming.

This guide refers to the 2024 paperback edition published by Bright Matter Books.

Summary

Harari’s work is an interdisciplinary synthesis of historical, archeological, biological, and anthropological research. This first volume of the Unstoppable Us series broadly follows the evolutionary chronology of our species, Homo sapiens, also called “Sapiens” in this book. Harari tackles the complex history of early human evolution, tracing Sapiens’ journey from ape origins, through being one of many human species, to global species dominance. This work of macrohistory answers questions about humanity’s origins, spread, and impact on the natural world. Harari questions why one species of humans, the Sapiens, succeeded in populating the globe and transforming the ecologies they encountered. He attributes Sapiens’ success to Human Evolution and Adaptability, The Impact of Cooperation on Historical Developments, and The Impact of Storytelling and Human Ingenuity. The latter he considers our unique “superpower” that makes Sapiens “unstoppable.”

Harari presents evidence that early hominids (a taxonomic family of primates that includes humans) were primates who lived precariously among other animals at great risk. They foraged for food and often scavenged. Gradually, early humans developed rudimentary tools with the discovery that they could use stones to break animal bones to extract marrow, which they ate. This development set a precedent for more refined stone tools for cutting food and other resources. Stone tools were a significant prehistoric development, as was humans’ discovery of how to make and control fire. No longer at nature’s mercy, early humans could create fires for warmth and cooking food. This change contributed to important evolutionary changes in human bodies. Harari presents the accepted argument that human brains grew in size and intelligence because of the body’s more efficient metabolism of cooked meat. The body funneled this additional energy into brain development.

Harari shows that there was great human diversity in the early Stone Age (2.6 million years ago) when many species of humans existed. For example, the “Floresian” species (Homo floresiensis) evolved in Asia after their ancestors became isolated on an island. Over many generations, they evolved to become the smallest human species, requiring fewer natural resources in this limited environment than larger hominids. Harari argues that, at this time, Sapiens—the species to which all surviving humans belong—were not physically superior to hominids (apes and their ancestors) or other animals. Although they were a relatively weak species physically, they migrated out of Africa and populated the globe thousands of years ago. During this process of dispersion, they caused the extinction of all other forms of humans and much of the planet’s megafauna.

Harari posits that Sapiens’ ability to effectively cooperate in large numbers was a significant contributing factor to their triumph over other humans and animals. He considers this skill to be unique to the species and the reason why they spread across the globe so easily. For example, Sapiens cooperated to develop rafts and canoes that got them to islands like Australia. They cooperated in foraging and hunting, depleting the resources that Neanderthals—another early human species—also used, causing the latter’s extinction. This cooperation also led Sapiens to hunt megafauna in Australia and North America—like the wooly mammoth—into extinction, permanently transforming the earth.

Sapiens’ most important strength, which Harari deems a “superpower,” is our storytelling skills. The ability to create fictions allows humans to cooperate in great numbers because shared beliefs and identities allow groups, including modern societies, to form and function cohesively. Harari presents examples of the fictions that Sapiens have created over time, ranging from religion and kingship to modern corporations, like McDonald’s. Religious narratives are powerful because they intersect with other stories, like political beliefs, to sustain powerful individuals. Harari provides the French monarchy as an example of this intersection. For many centuries, the French, like many cultures, believed that their kings were chosen by the Christian God. This theocratic belief allowed the monarchs to claim autocratic power with the support of their subjects. By the 1780s, however, different beliefs and narratives had replaced this story of kingship, leading to the French Revolution. Harari thus shows that humans have the power to change our stories and that we have done so throughout history. He encourages his young audience to empower themselves by harnessing their cooperative and storytelling skills and advocate for change, especially when it comes to humanity’s impact on the environment. He notes that animals cannot protect themselves from the harm we cause them, urging, “They can’t write articles for newspapers, send letters, or put pressure on governments. But you can” (179). Harari ends his book with the message that humans can employ our “unstoppability” for good.