Who we are and how we got here

I finished the book and it was a tough one. I must say, I liked it more than I thought I would and I took away several nuggets from reading it.
How old are modern humans? There was a major migration out of Africa about 50,000 years ago, but there are remains of early humans from earlier migrations dating 100,000 to 150,000 years ago in remote corners of the world. Early settlers in the Americas were thought to be only 10,000 years ago, but now they have found remains from much earlier. Much has happened in Eurasia, India, and China in the past 4,000 years, but there are many secrets in the ancient past including numerous ghosts in the genome. What is our individual heritage? Europe had early hunter gatherers, farmers from Iran, and hunter gatherers from the Russian steppe (not to mention a touch of Neanderthal). China had the Han dynasties, Taiwanese settled islands from Madagascar to Indonesia, and how did the early humans get to Australia? Apparently all modern humans originated in Africa at some point in time, in one wave or another.
Interesting how mutations in the genome can be traced for health concerns and are a problem with isolated populations. Also interesting how aggressive males like Genghis Khan can spread their Y chromosomes across a wide area. There are ethical issues to be addressed in this emerging field and we must guard against the evils of racism and nationalism and focus on understanding and embracing our diversity. "In this field, the pursuit of truth for its own sake has overwhelmingly had the effect of exploding stereotypes, undercutting prejudice, and highlighting the connections among peoples not previously known to be related."

Enlightenment Now

TMI! Either this was a really difficult read or I am not very enlightened.

This was like a "Short History of Nearly Everything" with underlying explanations. A comprehensive review of history, philosophy, political science, religious studies, and science as well as some Sam Harris like reasoning thrown in.

Although I finished the book, I feel I could read it again and come away with much more. I like the idea of the Monty Python saying "always look as the bright side of life" and the hope that the world will continue on a road of "progress". I do worry about mankind's impact on the environment and lack some of Pinker's faith in humanism. However, I do believe an expanded enlightenment and humanism is our best hope against Romantics, fascism, and theocracies.