The Scientific Revolution In Sapiens By Yuval Noah Harari

In the past 500 years of history, mankind had undergone a shift in the quest for more power and influence - people were now relying on scientific research and discovery to expand and increase their impact over other states and the world as a whole. In his work, Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari describes the unique factors that ushered a period of scientific discovery and the desire for new knowledge into mankind, otherwise known as the Scientific Revolution. Moreover, Harari argues that the alliance between the factors of science, politics, and economics that generated this revolution was far more effective in Europe, allowing Europe to dominate the global network and surpass Asia, the Middle East, and other regions of the world in its conquest for
Harari consolidates these differences into three key factors: the willingness to admit ignorance, the emphasis on mathematics and gathering observations, and the ability to gain new powers. First, people of this era were willing to admit that there existed information that they were unaware about, which parallels previous traditions of knowledge, especially in religion, that asserted that all vital information was already established. This acceptance stimulated curiosity, driving man to obtain this new information through both mathematical computation and observation. Of course, there needs to exist a motive for these strenuous efforts - during this period, men realized that research and the development of theories allowed for the development of powerful technologies that further enabled them to gain wealth, power, and influence. This is where Harari’s Scientific Revolution Feedback Loop Model comes into play. Harari contends that the constant cycle and interconnection between science, politics, and economics facilitated the Scientific Revolution. In other words, each factor relied on the others - political and economic institutions provides resources needed to to execute scientific research, and in return, research results in more power and wealth, which will be reinvested in research. It is this loop that allowed certain regions
While the modeling of evidence differs for both sources, the synthesis of both sources provides an comprehensive and thorough understanding of the various factors, including scientific research, European imperialism, capitalism, religion, and cultural frames that influenced Europe’s road to power, and its ability to surpass Asia and the Middle East’s grasp in global influence and networking. However, it is important to realize that this process was instigated by disjoint events, but rather, by a chain of events closely interrelated to each other through the blend of the factors previously listed, as illustrated through both Harari’s and Morillo’s