Are humans inherently good or bad? For centuries, the prevailing narrative has suggested a cynical answer – that beneath a thin veneer of civilisation, humanity is selfish and aggressive. But what if this view is fundamentally flawed? In "Rutger Bregman Offers a Hopeful History of Humankind", renowned historian and author Rutger Bregman () challenges this age-old question, drawing on a "silent revolution in science" across psychology, history, politics, archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and biology (). His groundbreaking conclusion? Humans are, at their core, decidedly good ().

This compelling 10-lesson course with assessments invites you to dismantle entrenched beliefs and rethink your assumptions about your fellow human beings – and yourself (). Bregman argues that friendliness is our evolutionary superpower, providing an inherent advantage over other species (). The real problem, he contends, isn't human nature, but civilisation itself, which, alongside today's news outlets, has distorted our perception of human violence and cruelty ().

Prepare to challenge everything you thought you knew as you explore:

• The News Media's Role in Cynicism: Discover how the negativity bias and availability bias hardwire us to focus on shocking stories of crime and calamity, skewing our worldview and making us believe the worst ().
• The Dark Side of Civilisation: Learn how urban settlements, once seen as progress, are implicated in the rise of infectious diseases, modern warfare, and distrust – ills virtually unknown to humankind for 95% of its history ().
• Our Inherently Friendly Nature: Uncover fascinating insights into human self-domestication, showing how for millennia, the friendliest among us were most likely to survive, thrive, and pass on their genes ().
• The Myth of Innate Violence: Debunk the popular "veneer theory" that suggests we're all savages beneath the surface. Evidence from warfare history reveals that people find it remarkably difficult to commit acts of violence, often being traumatised when they do ().
• The Truth Behind Famous Psychological Experiments: Deconstruct the manipulated findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment, Robbers Cave Experiment, and Milgram Experiment, revealing that they don't prove humanity's innate cruelty, but rather how researchers can bias results ().
• The Nuance of the Bystander Effect: Gain a deeper understanding of why people sometimes don't intervene in emergencies, and discover the powerful "inverse bystander effect", which shows that in most life-threatening situations, people do step in to help ().
• Why Empathy Is Overrated: Learn the crucial distinction between empathy and compassion, discovering why the latter is a more constructive, energising, and effective catalyst for action to alleviate suffering ().
• The Power of Intrinsic Motivation: Explore how trusting our innate drive for autonomy, self-determination, and purpose can revolutionise our schools and workplaces, leading to greater happiness, fulfilment, and productivity, as demonstrated by successful alternative models like Buurtzorg ().

Bregman's message is a radical, even dangerous, idea because it has massive implications for how we organise everything in our lives – from our schools to our workplaces, our democracies to our prisons (). If we can truly trust each other, it means we can move towards a more egalitarian, genuinely democratic society (). This course encourages a "new realism", suggesting that cynicism might actually be the truly naive perspective ().

By the end of this course, you will recognise that what you assume in other people is what you get out of them (). This transformative knowledge will empower you to cultivate connection, compassion, and trust, ultimately helping you to imagine and build a better future for humanity ().