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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Harari states that the leading project of what revolution is to give humankind eternal life?
(a) The Cognitive Revolution.
(b) The Logic Revolution.
(c) The Immortality Revolution.
(d) The Scientific Revolution.

2. Harari states that "the most remarkable and defining moment of the past 500 years" (249) was what event?
(a) The cloning of a sheep.
(b) The onset of World War I.
(c) The detonation of the first atomic bomb.
(d) The onset of World War II.

3. In what millenium does Harari assert that people began to believe that a single order could rule all of humanity?
(a) The Second Millennium BC.
(b) The First Millennium AD.
(c) The Third Millennium BC.
(d) The First Millennium BC.

4. What does Harari assert is the key to understanding a particular culture?
(a) Understanding that all cultures embrace specific jargon.
(b) Understanding that all cultures embrace a form of power structure.
(c) Understanding that all cultures embrace internal contradictions.
(d) Understanding that all cultures embrace a sense of unity.

5. What does Harari NOT list among the "premodern traditions of knowledge" he discusses?
(a) Buddhism.
(b) Scientology.
(c) Confucianism.
(d) Christianity.

Short Answer Questions

1. When stating that "modern science differs from all previous traditions of knowledge in three major ways" (250), Harari states that one quality of modern science is "its centrality of observation" (251) and its centrality of what other element?

2. For what purpose did the inventing country of gunpowder originally use their new invention for many years?

3. Prior to 1500, what two fields were considered to be entirely separate from one another?

4. When stating that "modern science differs from all previous traditions of knowledge in three major ways, Harari states one of the ways. He says that one quality of modern science is "its willingness to admit" (250) what?

5. In what year did Magellan circumnavigate the earth for the first time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence does Harari use to demonstrate the profound effect that empires and their belief systems have had on history, even among those cultures that consider themselves anti-imperialist?

2. What is the definition of the term "memetics" (242) and how do most scholars in the humanities feel about it?

3. What are the two broad features of history that Harari uses to determine why culture developed as it did?

4. What is Harari's view of how the Cook expedition marked a turning point within European history?

5. What is Harari's message regarding people's tendency to discriminate against outsiders?

6. After Harari describes the rise of Europe as a locus of power in the world, what caveat does he make?

7. What connections does Harari draw among capitalism, modern science, and the emergence of European imperialism?

8. What flaw does Harari point out within the philosophies of Postmodernist thinkers?

9. How does Harari link the state of the modern economy to his view that quality of life is not guaranteed or predetermined to improve as time passes?

10. What evidence does Harari provide for his assertion that "the practices of empire-builders were entangled with those of scientists"? (296)

(see the answer keys)

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