Anthropology
Hamed Vahdati Nasab; Alieh Abdollahi
Abstract
The under review book of Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow, is the second part of the trilogy of Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century were all written by Yuval Noah Harari. In this book, the writer has first reviewed the history behind the formation of the human mindset from Paleolithic ...
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The under review book of Homo Deus, A Brief History of Tomorrow, is the second part of the trilogy of Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century were all written by Yuval Noah Harari. In this book, the writer has first reviewed the history behind the formation of the human mindset from Paleolithic to the renaissance with particular emphasis on the scientific revolution and appearance of the humanism paradigm and its subdivisions (liberalism, socialism, and fascism). Doing so, he concluded that the invention of the internet of everything and using more sophisticated computer-generated algorithms by Google and Facebook (Dataism) would eventually put humans aside forever. The writers of this critique compared the Farsi translation with the English one and realized that some parts of the Farsi version suffer from improper translation, and some other parts have been deleted during the translation. In addition to that, it is probable that human societies might escape from the illustrated dark future by Harari. Learning from past events, and more importantly, using our global consciousness, which we possess more than ever, might change the inevitable future.
Archaeology
Hamed Vahdati Nasab
Abstract
Carlton Stevens Coon is one of the most prominent figures in the Prehistoric Archaeology of Iran. He conducted the first systematic field expeditions in the Iranian Archaeology 70 years ago. For many years his works have been taught in the Iranian universities. Now and after almost seventy years, a need ...
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Carlton Stevens Coon is one of the most prominent figures in the Prehistoric Archaeology of Iran. He conducted the first systematic field expeditions in the Iranian Archaeology 70 years ago. For many years his works have been taught in the Iranian universities. Now and after almost seventy years, a need for critical review of his works sounds inevitable. In this research, such review was performed based on five categories: theoretical approaches of the field works, degree of specialty, fieldwork approaches, data collecting methods, and data processing procedures. The results indicate that his theoretical and practical approaches have suffered from many weaknesses. Coon’s main concern was to find human remains (Neanderthals in particular) rather than conducting clean archaeology excavations. On the other hand, his horrifyingly racist publications, rumors about his employment as an intelligence operative by the CIA during the WW II and the Cold War, plus countless unanswered questions concerning the sites he chose to excavate in Iran, all support this hypothesis that Archaeology was not his first priority in Iran.
Archaeology
Hamed Vahdati Nasab
Abstract
The book of Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee: How Our Animal Heritage Affects the Way We Live, written by Jared Diamond is one of the best works in linking the evolutionary biology and cultural complexity of human societies. The author attempted to search for many of the social behaviors of modern ...
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The book of Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee: How Our Animal Heritage Affects the Way We Live, written by Jared Diamond is one of the best works in linking the evolutionary biology and cultural complexity of human societies. The author attempted to search for many of the social behaviors of modern humans in inherited biology from ancient ancestors of humans and has been very successful in this regard. Perhaps the only disadvantage of the book is the lack of updating its content, a subject that has been criticized. In this article, the author attempts to express the contents of a book and, in some cases, update it in cases where more recent discoveries than the time of writing the book have been confirmed by some writers. This book is divided into five sections. The first and second sections (the first seven chapters) deal with evidence about bones, tools, and genes, which are utilized for archeological and biological documentation. The third section (chapters 8-12) pertains to the cultural characteristics which distinguish humans from animals. In the last two sections of the book, the author succinctly reviews the devastating features of humankind and trace the origins of some of these features in the ancient biology.
Archaeology
Hamed Vahdati Nasab
Abstract
The book of the Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind is one of the studies categorized under the title of macro history in the world. The book is written by Yuval Noah Harari, one of the graduates of Jared Diamond's thinking school. Throughout the four major chapters of the book, with the titles Cognitive ...
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The book of the Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind is one of the studies categorized under the title of macro history in the world. The book is written by Yuval Noah Harari, one of the graduates of Jared Diamond's thinking school. Throughout the four major chapters of the book, with the titles Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, Human Unity, and Scientific Revolution, the author has attempted to narrate the ups and downs of the story of human evolution since about 100,000 years ago to the modern age. Although the author, translator and editors all have a charming, engaging content, some content flaws have led to some criticism of the author's scholarly approach. Perhaps the most important criticism of the book is the over-simplification and little obsession with presenting models and dates. The author does not explain in any part of the book why he placed the origin of the cognitive revolution 70000 ago and not 50000 as the researchers’ literature. He also leaves the reader somewhat confused about the main character of the book (sapien). Whether the author's intention is homo sapiens or homo sapiens sapiens will never be determined.
