Out of Our Minds

Out Of Our Minds was not what I expected, but it is a great novel which does justice to the “history of the world” trope.

I was sold on this book as it being an “alternative” to Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus. However, I must say that, despite both seeking a “history of the world” narrative, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto does a more puritan job at it.

Nexus was more focused on saying something about AI and tech, and in that process YNH partially nitpicks from History to add to his point about information and data, to make a commentary on present day events.

In contrast, Felipe Fernandez-Armesto focuses purely on the history aspect of each of the eras of the 10 chapters he writes, not even mentioning AI or data until the last two chapters (and even then he focuses on the human element and not on the technology at all). This allows the reader to absorb each era as its own individual piece, and draw conclusions based on their own interpretation and intelligence.

This book has a very interesting global angle to it too, missing in almost any global conversation, incorporating many “forbidden histories” from across the world rooted in facts without justifying himself (he is too senior to justify himself). From seeing the crusades as a fight over Jewish legacy, to the Henry Thoreau’s influences of Gandhi’s satyagraha, to the Islamic renaissance to Persian duality thought to African Tswana tribes and their works to – so much of it I didn’t know of, and so much of it I didn’t even know was formalized and studied so well!

While I “knew” of many of these things, the book challenged and nuanced my perception of various events across the globe that were mentioned here.

The book circles around back to Eastern philosophy, exactly where it starts, and that is another interesting take to see be part of geopolitics 3-4 years after the book is released.

This book is a gem, and there may be very few authors like this. It is a must read.

9/10

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