Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature, selfish and governed by self-interest. Humankind makes a new argument — that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of life. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.
Bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world’s most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think.
Published 20 June 2020, 19:34 IST