CENTURY
BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI
Hats off to Prof. Harari for his insightful and courageous comments on history, religion, and the meaning of life
4 stars out of 5 stars
“21 Lessons for the 21st Century” is the third of the trilogy of books by Professor Yuval Noah Harari on humankind. It was published in 2018, preceded by “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” and “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow”. The main theme is that the present century is a time of rapid change. The existential challenges and the inadequacy of the existing social structure to deal with them are pointed out, as well as some suggestions for navigating the present and future paths of humankind.
The existential challenges are: The Nuclear Challenge, The Ecological Challenge, The Technological Challenge.
The Nuclear Challenge is for the nations to avoid blowing ourselves up with nuclear weapons. There is actually some good news in this regard. The last few decades have been the most peaceful era in human history. Unlike in previous centuries when war was profitable, it was no longer so in the 21st century. Nations who prosper are those who stayed out of wars. However, “never underestimate human stupidity”, which could still plunge the world in nuclear wars. Witness the dangerous stupidity of Russia invading Ukraine in February 2022, which occurred after the book was written. No one knows how the war will end if it ever does.
The Ecological Challenge is obvious. Global Warming, melting of the polar icecaps, destruction of the rain forests, pollution of the waterways, the ocean, and the soil, all put the habitability of planet earth at stake.
There are multiple aspects associated with Technological challenges, which result from advances of information technology and biotechnology. One result is AI taking over jobs not only of cashiers, taxi-drivers, pilots, but also bankers, doctors, and even teachers. This easily leads to vast unemployment and creating a class of useless people. “When you grow up, You may not have a job”, is the title of a chapter of the book.
Another result is that all our private data are collected in the Big Data, which includes what we like and what we think. Big Data will be controlled by various corporations and the government.
The advance in biotech may lead to the discovery that human emotions, such as anger, sadness, and joy are the interactions of neurons and synapse in our brains. With this knowledge, corporations and the government can even hack our brains. What a terrifying thought.
Biotech advances could enable humans to selectively enhance their capabilities – better hearing, better vision, better physical strength and/or brain power? It can lead to the creation of super intelligent robots which beat humans in every activity.
Having laid out the challenges, does Prof. Harari offer guidance to meet these challenges? The answer is a mix bag, probably not scoring well in this regard. On education, he offers the four C’s: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. It should be pointed out that, around 2000, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) in the USA had set up a set of new criteria known as ABET 2000, which did indirectly include the four C’s.
On the ecological challenge, the author points out that it takes nearly four thousand gallons of flesh water to produce a little over two pounds of beef, compared to the seventy-five gallons needed to produce the same weight of potatoes. He mentions that the world’s first hamburger was grown from cells – and then eaten – in 2013. It cost $330,000. Four years of research and development brought the price down to $11 per unit, and within a decade industrially produced clean meat is expected to be cheaper than slaughtered meat.
The author also points out that Evangelicals will object to any cap on carbon emissions, while Catholics will believe that Jesus preached that we must protect the environment.
The author is of the opinion that religion doesn’t really have much to contribute to the great policy debates of our time. To effectively combat the challenges, he suggests the formation of a global society, with a global government and one set of laws for all. There will be no individual nations, each with its own government and its own laws. While this sounds unreachable, he gives examples from history which indicate that it is not beyond the reach of humankind. He concludes with the upbeat thought that: “Though the challenges are unprecedented, and though the disagreements are intense, humankind can rise to the occasion if we keep our fears under control and be a bit more humble about our views.”
In addition to the main issues addressed, I found that I picked up a fair amount of knowledge on history, religion, the flags of nations, and even the meaning of life. Below are two of my favorite quotes from the book:
“If you are really in love with someone, you never worry about the meaning of life.”
“We have zero scientific evidence that Eve was tempted by the serpent….Adam and Eve never existed, but Chartres Cathedral is still beautiful. Much of the Bible may be fictional, but it can still bring joy to billions and can still encourage humans to be compassionate, courageous, and creative – just like other great works of fiction, such as Don Quixote, War and Peace, and the Harry Potter books.”
Hats off to Prof. Harari for his comparison of the Bible to Harry Porter books!
Link to Amazon Review:
3rd among 16077 ratings 4/7/2023
Audio version on YouTube:
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