Tuesday 27 August 2019

Harari, Yuval Noah "Homo Deus"


Harari, Yuval Noah "Homo Deus. A Brief History of Tomorrow"- 2016

After reading "Sapiens. A Brief History of Mankind", I knew I had to read the following books by this brilliant scientist and author.

After trying to explain how we got where we are today, Yuval Noah Harari now takes us on an expedition into the future, almost list Charles Dickens in "A Christmas Carol", we've dealt with "Christmas Past", we know "Christmas Present" but we have no idea what "Christmas yet to come" will bring us. The author gives us options, tells us what could be if we don't change or even what can be if we do change. Let me tell it like this, a lot was not new to me, but he gives so many different perspectives that it is interesting to see where else we might be heading.

This highly engaging book makes us aware of what we are today, where we are today, what needs to be done and what we can do. We all know that machines and computers have taken over a huge part of what our world used to be, are we ready for the next step?

I'm already looking forward to his next book where he deals with "Christmas Present": "21 Lessons for the 21st Century".

I think all his books should enter every school curriculum.

From the back cover:

"From the author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind comes an extraordinary new book that explores the future of the human species.

Yuval Noah Harari, author of the bestselling Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, envisions a not-too-distant world in which we face a new set of challenges. In Homo Deus, he examines our future with his trademark blend of science, history, philosophy and every discipline in between. 

Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers? This is the next stage of evolution. This is Homo Deus.

War is obsolete
You are more likely to commit suicide than be killed in conflict

Famine is disappearing
You are at more risk of obesity than starvation

Death is just a technical problem
Equality is out but immortality is in

What does our future hold?"

4 comments:

  1. I wonder how much will turn out to be right. Cheers

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    Replies
    1. Good question. If I look back to the seventies when we were first warned about global warming and a lot of people didn't want to believe those predictions ... well, a lot of them have come true and I can see that there is a lot in his book that sounds right already today. Let's hope not all of his predictions will come true.

      Sorry for such a late reply, we moved and I didn't get on the computer much. Talk to you again soon.

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