There are a lot of books about Human Nature.

And I’ve read a lot of them.

But the best book on book on Human Nature I’ve read is Humankind by Rutger Bregman.

For a few reasons:

• Reason #1: It profoundly changed how I view the world. I definitely didn’t think that humans are inherently good before, but now I do.
• Reason #2: It tells great stories—I regularly find myself referencing and retelling them when discussing human nature with people:
  • What does really happen when high school kids strand on a barren island?
  • How much panic is there onboard when a plane is about to crash, and everyone knows it?
• Reason #3: It answers questions I didn’t even consider before—for example:
  • Why do almost all domesticated animals look like adolescents when compared to their wild counterparts?
• Reason #4: It is just plain fun to read.

If you are at all interested in understanding Human Nature, I can’t recommend this book enough. I routinely tell people if there’s only one book they should read, this is it. It is that good.

(Did you read it? If so, do you agree? Is there another book you would recommend? Besides Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, of course?)