It is a sobering thought; more people die today from eating too much food than from eating too little. More people die from old age than from infectioIt is a sobering thought; more people die today from eating too much food than from eating too little. More people die from old age than from infectious diseases or plagues and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals combined. For the first time in history humankind's three major problems that have remain unchanged from the days of the Pharaohs in Egypt, to the ancient Greeks and Chinese, and to the Victorian British, have been famine, plague and war. This has now been transformed through breakthroughs in the fields of medicine, science, technology, politics and through enlightenment in consciousnesses in humans as to what is right and wrong. Of course there are plenty of cases where things still go amiss, but in comparison to how things used to be, humanity's major problems and issues for the future are going to be a new set of challenges. Maybe humankind will have to decide between economic growth or ecological stability? The same growth that has provided economic growth and abundant food, medicine, energy and raw materials, also destabilises the planets ecological equilibrium. Pollution, climate change, global warming may all be having detrimental affects on the planet that humankind hasn't fully explored.
The book is split up into three parts based on Harari's interpretation of history, his theory on how it led us to how humanity is in the present day, and his predictions on our future, each based on possibilities, hypothetical assumptions and philosophical speculations. Harari explains in some depth why and how we are a humanist society, which is important in understanding his beliefs as to where humanity is heading. His prediction is based on what humans will try to achieve in the twenty first century - not what it will succeed in achieving. He says that his forecast of the future may not be terribly original, however it is based on a liberal humanist approach of ideas and hopes that have dominated the world for 300 years.
He argues that humanism sanctifies the life, emotions and desires of humans, so it isn't too difficult or far fetched to predict it will follow that humans will next want to significantly lengthen human lifespans, happiness and power. Take our current society based on humanism out of the equation, and humanity's future may indeed be very different, instead based on a future born of ideas and hopes of the twenty first century that we currently struggle to imagine or comprehend.
The final third part of the book argues that attempting to realise this liberal humanist dream will eventually undermine its very foundations, by unleashing new post-humanist technologies and scientific discoveries. These discoveries could be the downfall of liberalism. If humans no longer control the running of the world, would the biggest threat be from biotechnology and artificial intelligence? What new religion would replace liberalism? Harari believes it would be techno religions in the form of the more conservative techno humanism and the more terrifying data religion. Techno humanism thinks that Homo sapiens, as we know it today, will not be relevant in the future but will still cling to many humanist values. It believes that we should therefore use technology to upgrade Homo sapiens into a far superior human model; homo deus. Dataism doesn't see humans as the pinnacle of creation - it worships data, not humans - and states that the universe consists of data flows, with the value of any entity or phenomenon determined by its contribution to data processing. The scary thing is that either of Hirari's proposed eventual hypothesis are possible, just as there are further scenarios that may lie in humankinds future, scenarios we as humans could not even begin to fathom due to our current limitations.
If you enjoy having your personal beliefs and thoughts challenged, this book definitely fires up your electrochemical brain processes. Harari's views on history and how it shaped our world today, may open up new ways of looking at things to the reader. He dissects the past and takes us on a journey, so that we can see why humanity is a liberal humanist society today and what it could mean for our future. Harari also ponders the big questions of the meaning and the point of life.
The debates and issues raised in the book are thought inspiring and certainly made me contemplate some new ideas. I can see this book being scoffed at by overly religious people, or people with closed mindsets, due to some of Harari's beliefs - such as the soul doesn't exist, the true self is imaginary, and that we fundamentally live pointless lives as data processing units. However, his arguments do make sense if you can think about it reasonably and logically. As Harari states, the scenarios in the book aren't prophesies, but possibilities. He attempts to explain how our present day conditioning came about in order to loosen its hold on our imagination and broaden our horizons. You don't have to agree with everything he writes, but it is an interesting debate and will definitely make you ponder and contemplate the many issues that humanity will ultimately face.
Thanks very much to Random House UK Vintage Publishing, Yuval Noah Harari and Net Galley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review. ...more
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