This is a fantastic read.
Bregman’s premise is that humans are a pretty decent species, and not the monsters that the media portrays through dodgy reporting and dubious science. The sections where he tears into widely reported examples of human selfishness and aggression – such as the Stanford Prison Experiment, the Milgram experiment, the self-destruction of Easter Island, Kitty Genovese’s murder (all of which I’d heard of and believed the established narratives) – was eye-opening and shocking, shocking in the sense that they’re still being used today, decades later, in school text books.
Right now, where societal divisions are being utilised for politcal gain, and it’s too easy accept that society would implode without the controlling hand of the state, it’s refreshing to read that humands are better than that. Leaders have to try hard to instill the hatred that’s the cancer of our current time, so when that leadership changes, there’s hope for us all.
An excellent book, read it.