A New book that I recommend

 I have now read the book “Peak Human” ISBN 9781805 463 870 (Pocket). 

 The book “Peak Human” is written by a Swede – Johan Nordberg. In an interview he was asked: Why as a Swede he did not write the book in Swedish, he replied: When I write in English I need to think more about what I am writing. And I needed that when I wrote the book.

 Now that I have read “Peak Human” I feel I need to recommend this book. Its secondary title is: What We Can Learn from the Rise and Fall of the Golden Ages.

For me, the book meant that I gained new insights about:

Chapter 1) I was forced to acknowledge that the Athenian state was the one who took the most responsibility, when ancient Greece defeated the Persian Empire. I have previously tended to overemphasize the importance of Sparta’s efforts, even though I was well aware that it was primarily the Athenians who ensured that the Persians were defeated at Marathon.

Chapter 2) The book makes no mention of the city of Rome possibly being founded by the Spartans (which I think I remember it did). Didn’t learn much more about the Roman Republic.

Chapter 3) Learned a lot more about the Abbasid Caliphate.

Chapter 4) I knew almost nothing about the Song Dynasty in China before I read this chapter in the book. What I learned me was very interesting. I had no idea that the Song Dynasty had been so successful.

Chapter 5) About Renaissance Italy Did not provide any new groundbreaking insights for me.

Chapter 6) gave me new realities about how much the Netherlands meant to the founding of modern Western civilization.

Chapter 7) About the Anglosphere was rewarding reading. Got a lot of new realizations on the influences of the English speaking world on our modern western civilisation..

PS. I have previously recommended reading the book "Sapiens" by Yuval Harari. It is the world's most read history book (sold over 30 million copies). And my advice was appreciated. So if you have no yet read it I do recommend you to do so a.s.a.p.

Ref: 

https://axiom1b.blogspot.com/2015/09/sapiens-brief-history-of-humanity.html

Recension in Swedish Newspaoper Swedish Daily 2026-01-10: 

Book | Peak Human - Education is not achieved by command

 Last year's most pleasant educational journey was Johan Norberg's "Peak human: What we can learn from the rise and fall of Golden ages" (Atlantic Books).

 One of the most important insights is how little in politics is actually about difficult trade-offs. All civilizations that have flourished have, under relatively great economic and intellectual freedom and openness to trade, achieved more or less everything at once: economic, cultural and scientific development.

 For example, if you compare ancient Athens with its competitor Sparta, Athens had literature, poetry, art, architecture, philosophy and humor - which it was also allowed to direct at the rulers. In the more authoritarian Sparta, nothing of lasting value was created (except military discipline).

 Athens even had better warriors. Sparta had certainly hardened its soldiers since childhood in battle and hardship, but they were unimaginative and hierarchical where the Athenians were cunning and meritocratic. Under the right conditions, it seems that people can achieve great works of the kind we celebrate annually at the Nobel Prize in our time.

 If you look at history, civilizations have flared up in such different parts of the world that they can hardly be tied to ethnicity, religion or geography. Especially not as the latest, Anglo-Saxon, wealth explosion has spread over large parts of the world. Political freedom and a culture of curiosity, openness and a desire to experiment, however, seem to be indispensable components.

 Speaking of the latter, after reading Johan Norberg's book, I have a message for Swedish politicians in general, and for the Liberal party in particular: Nowhere in history does education and human flourishing seem to have been commanded or mastered.

 In the section on the Renaissance, Norberg describes how the humanists who led the development of the humanities repeatedly spoke and wrote about “the enormous joy they found in reading, writing and understanding”. Monks during the preceding Dark Ages also read and wrote, but then out of duty and because it was expected. If they had thought further on their own and concluded that what they repeated and memorized was not correct, they would have been punished for this violation of the prevailing order. Only with joy and freedom did people’s curiosity become aroused, and discoveries and development took off.

 I think we find the flaw here that prevents the Liberals’ newfound mantra – educate yourself, behave yourself, care yourself – from taking off. Those who like to talk about education in the Swedish public sphere are usually either looking to rake in contributions to the organization they represent, or they want to criticize others’ lack of education in order to score points with people who want to feel superior to others. The Liberals also speak to this audience. Their exhortation to “educate yourselves” is directed at others from an imagined authority, like a parent who wants the child to eat the vegetables on the plate.

 Rather, educated people are characterized by the fact that they generously share their knowledge, and by their example demonstrate the joy it can bring.

 Good representatives of this attitude have vividly demonstrated how the experience of food and drink – in itself a not unimportant source of joy – is enhanced by also knowing its traditions, origins and the companies behind them. This does more for the dissemination of knowledge and the joy of discovery than all the admonishing liberals. If you want to pave the way for the next renaissance, it is therefore important to set a good example and share what you have. You can draw from the wealth of knowledge we have accumulated and show us new and promising possibilities.

 But you must not forget to speak to and trust people’s inner drives, and give them great freedom on their journey of discovery. However, establishing in detail and politically determining what people should know, or strictly admonishing them to educate themselves, risks killing the joy of discovery and counteracting the very goals one claims to want to achieve.