Harari vs. Henrich: What science says about human evolution (josephheath.substack.com)

I enjoyed Sapiens precisely because it exemplifies one of its themes: namely, that telling stories is advantageous (to the teller, the hearer, society, or some combination) because stories are easy to remember and can be used as mental tools and to affect the behavior of others — regardless of whether the stories accurately reflect reality. Thus the book, in its own inaccuracies, is a joke on the reader (and, more broadly, on a swathe of all readers and academics) because it advantages Harari himself to the general economic and temporal detriment of his audience. Taleb has something similar to say when he equates religious belief and customs with restaurants' getting people in the door with food to sell them more-expensive alcoholic drinks.

I keep Harari's book on my shelf to remember the power of control through narrative, and I get a good laugh whenever I see it there.