How Homo Sapiens Turned Into The Dominant Species of Earth
Homo sapiens are the dominant species of Earth.
But despite being one of the most successful species in history, most people have no clue how we achieved this status. And honestly, neither did I. So, I took it upon myself to revisit Sapiens by Yuval Harari to study exactly how—and see if I could find a repeatable framework that we could apply to modern success.
Hours of reading later, here’s what I learned:
Quick Stats About Homo Sapiens
Here are a few interesting data points to give you context, in case you’re unfamiliar with our species:
- Homo sapiens existed but were of no consequence until around 70,000 years ago after a genetic mutation enabled advanced cognitive abilities.
- Developed complex language, social structures, and the ability to share and believe in abstract ideas.
- Responsible for the creation of civilizations, from small villages to global corporations like Apple and Amazon.
- Currently the most widespread and influential animal species on the planet.
Needless to say, Homo sapiens are unparalleled in shaping the world.
So… what can we learn?
Homo Sapiens’ 3-Step Framework For Achieving Dominance
From my research, all our success can be boiled down to a very simple process:
- Cognitive Revolution
- Cooperation and Social Structures
- Big Thinking and Overcoming Scarcity Mindset
Pair this framework with an unmatched drive for innovation, and you get a potent combination for rapid and sustained growth.
Let’s dig in:
Step 1: Cognitive Revolution
For Homo sapiens, everything begins with the Cognitive Revolution.
The reason is that this revolution marked a pivotal moment when a genetic mutation allowed our ancestors to think in ways that no other species could. This change enabled us to develop complex language, engage in abstract thought, and create shared myths—foundational elements for building societies.
To do this, Homo sapiens leveraged:
- Language Development:/strong> Creating complex language systems to communicate and collaborate.
- Storytelling: Developing myths and shared beliefs that unified large groups of people.
- Abstract Thinking: Innovating through concepts and ideas beyond immediate reality.
Simple, but highly effective.
Step 2: Cooperation and Social Structures
The next thing Homo sapiens focused on was building cooperation and social structures.
They achieved this by fostering strong social bonds and establishing organized communities, which allowed them to work together in unprecedented ways. This cooperation enabled the development of everything from small tribes to complex civilizations. It’s what separates us from other species and underpins our success as a dominant force on Earth. I consider this our “secret sauce.”
Which leads us to…
Step 3: Big Thinking and Overcoming Scarcity Mindset
But the real reason Homo sapiens is so successful at dominating the planet is because they are obsessive about thinking big and overcoming the scarcity mindset.
This involves:
- Scaling Visions:/strong> Thinking beyond individual needs to impact larger populations and even the entire planet.
- Innovation and Adaptation: Constantly reworking and improving ideas to solve broader problems.
- Global Impact: Striving to create solutions that benefit not just local communities but the entire human race.
This, combined with the Cognitive Revolution and Cooperation, is what makes Homo sapiens so successful.
So, give the above a try, and maybe you will be the next dominant force in your field!
What makes us human? I’m not talking about love or compassion or intelligence or the fact that we walk upright. I mean the one single thing which separates us from every other animal and why is it important for success?
I recently decided to re-read sapiens, by Yuval Harari It’s a fascinating book and I believe knowing our own nature and where we all have come from is vital to understanding how to succeed.
In the book, he points out that somewhere between 2 million to 70,000 years ago, various species of humans co-existed together. They roamed the earth, they foraged, they mated, had family units, their kids played etc. These were people, humans in fact. They had names like neanderthals, homo errectus and others.
But something unique happened about 70,000 years ago, when a genetic mutation occurred in the great grandmother to all of us which allowed us to think a little differently than previous humans. To act a little differently from previous humans.
Specifically, it allowed us to interact socially in a way that other early humans couldn’t. We were able to develop complex language, use hand signals more effectively and perhaps most importantly, develop more abstract fictional thoughts, create alternate realities, tell more stories.
It also led to negative developments like deceit and lying, cheating, stealing.
This mutation, this chance event, changed the world forever, because the new ability that we had was distinct from anything else the world had seen and it allowed us to work together in new ways, all the way from creating villages to companies like Apple and Amazon. And ultimately dominating the planet.
Why is this important? – its important Because cooperation and working together is therefore not only part of our basic biology but the trait which allowed us to not only survive but thrive. It is the very thing which makes us homo sapiens vs. all other species of humans and all other animals. And it is the very thing which makes successful. This video is about not fighting that nature.
I was on an airplane recently and they called for a doctor. I volunteered and the woman in the back of the plane had passed out. As I attended to her, I realized that I am very little help without the significant team around me. By myself I can provide basic triage type level care, but with anesthesiologists, perfusionists, nurses, techs, physicians assistants, as well as an entire health care system not to mention the medicare tax system and insurance system, I can stop someone’s heart, repair it and restart it to save their life.
In life if you work against this nature of our humanity, you won’t be successful. You will be like a fish swimming against the current. So to gain success and to live in clamp time, you must eliminate you from the equation?
How do you do that?
You have to always behave in a way that provides a benefit to the greatest number of people. the difference between apple and your local dry cleaner is that apple figured out a solution which impacts the entire world. That’s why it’s worth 3 trillion dollars and the dry cleaner is worth much less. If you solve a problem that the entire world faces, or impact the entire world in a positive way your potential for success becomes infinite.
If you want to write a book and think about what you yourself will get from it, you will likely have writer’s block. If you think about what you want to share with all of humanity, whether it be knowledge or storytelling, suddenly the inspiration comes. Placing yourself in the mindset whereby you consistently think of others and what you can give the world rather than thinking of yourself and what you can take from the world, will shift your thoughts to thinking bigger, bolder and in general grander.
This is about much more than morality. Thinking big allows you to avoid one of the gaps that occurs in clamp time. Remember in clamp time I talk about gaps as the impediment to progress. The gap is the thing that prevents you from being where you want to be. In this case the gap I’m refereeing to is thinking in terms of scarcity rather than abundance. Scarcity means not realizing the abundance of opportunities that exist in the world. This is why you have to scale your vision.
There are 7 billion people on the earth. If you could convince every single one of them to give you a penny the smallest fraction of money we have in the United States, you would gain 70 million dollars. The best example is to think about ideas. How many new ideas are there in the world. The answer is infinite
Even if you don’t have a new idea, you can have the same idea think bigger, and rework it better, more efficiently or in a more impactful way. Did Cruble cookie invent the cookie? Nope, but it’s one of the fastest growing cookie franchises today because of their innovative approach to sales and unique business model. How many hamburger and pizza businesses pop up every year in every city in America with a new take on the exact same idea.
Its hard to think of a bigger thinker than Elon musk. Whether you are talking about Tesla to Space-x and Neurolink, his companies aim to solve some of humanities greatest problems, providing the most impact to the largest number of people on the planet. Of course with the bold vision came the financial success which came with it, propelling him to be one of the richest men alive. He scaled his vision to great heights and avoided the pitfall of a scarcity mindset
Its not easy to do this, remember, another evolutionary principle is that we are hard wired for survival So we are always fighting these two evolutionary perspectives, the need for survival with the need for cooperation.
Our survival instinct tells us to protect ourselves at all costs, and therefore often our first inclination is to withhold, keep an idea to ourselves and that leads to a scarcity mindset. Of course you have to be smart when you have a great idea, but you don’t have to worry about it as much as you think you do. The reason is no other person can have the same passion, thoughts, intentions, or energy to carry your idea to fruition. Your idea will have the most meaning to you.
So the first key principle of clamp time is scaling your vision as large as it can go. This is one of the reasons for that. When you scale a vision big you immediately think bolder, grander, and you capitalize of the nature of humanity and how working together has been the key to our evolution all the way back to 70,000 years ago. The bottom line is that considering others above yourself leads to big thinking. Big thinking allows you to avoid a scarcity mindset. And avoiding a scarcity mindset is what allows you to achieve sucess.