Humankind: A Hopeful History

"Humankind: A Hopeful History" Reflection
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The most fashionable and evidence-based way to express human beings is that we are selfish, competitive and very aggressive. In the few instances that people appear altruistic, there must be a motivation behind it based on self-interest. However, Bregman argues that this idea of humans is one-sided, and people need to replace the misanthropic Golem effect with the optimistic Pygmalion effect (Bregman, 2020, p.253). Through his eighteen chapters, Bregman offers a happier version of human nature. In other terms, he offers a homo puppy view of humans, which makes him label the central thesis of his work as a "mind-bending drug" (Bregman, 2020, p.17). This reflection will look into Bregman's major arguments, including that humans are social animals that thrive in cooperation and that the environment influences the nature of humans.
Among the key arguments in the book is that humans are social animals that thrive in cooperation and collaboration. Bregman utilizes the historical narrative of the construction of pyramids in ancient Egypt and the defeat of the Nazis during World War II. According to Bregman, these instances were a true example of collaboration and cooperation among the people. One compelling example he provided is the 2016 rescue of the woman who tried to save her child but ended up in the canal. A group of bystanders, including Ruben, the jeweller, Rainer, and four others, collaborated to rescue her (Bregman, 2020, p.192). As they saved the woman and her child, other people on the canal sides stood with blankets and towels to help the woman. In this instance, Bregman tried to refute the bystander phenomenon and the veneer theory of civilization, which purports that our nature is in violence rather than coll...