Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest.īut what if it isn't true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. In a year that was exhausting because it seemed to showcase the worst that humanity had to offer, it was refreshing to read a book that didn't buy into the doomsaying.” Bregman debunks some of the most famous psychological experiments like the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Stanley Millgram experiment and describes how evolutionarily humans are geared more towards collaboration than competition. It challenges the idea that humans are selfish, violent, and competitive by nature. “ Humankind: A Hopeful History was one of the best books I read last year.

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