Hacker News Reader

I find this to be the case with most pop-science books; the author's intention is to leave the reader with a feeling of having learned something rather than providing a full overview of the field, which may be too complex for the situation anyway. I often compare it to my response when non-CS people ask me "what I do."

Do you have some specific examples the people you spoke to frequently criticize regarding Harari?

View on HN

No specific examples I'm afraid (what they said put me off reading him entirely so I don't have any personal examples either - too many other books I want to read!), although the two people who mentioned it to me recently were a neuroscientist and an economist with a keen interest evolutionary biology.

I do wonder about the value of pop science. It feels like it's almost always oversimplified to the point of being misleading. I have a background in psychology / neuroscience and find it difficult to read any pop neuroscience without grinding my teeth.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com