Book Review — The best lessons from “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari

In Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked into our future. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari brought to light today’s most pressing issues.

A re-created version of the original book cover, but with a more dystopian humanoid ‘eye’. Image credit: Muharrem

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, and profound social transformations, it becomes imperative to pause and reflect on the state of our world.

Through his thought-provoking book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, acclaimed historian and my all-time favorite author, Yuval Noah Harari masterfully dissects the pressing issues that shape our present and near future.

In this book, Harari helps us turn our focus on understanding why humanity is facing certain socio-political, technological, and even cultural shifts. Some of the topics he highlights are terrorism, climate change, the cycle of life, nationalism, religion, ignorance, encroachments on our privacy, the decline in international cooperation, and (my personal favorite) the rise of AI.

While Harari sprinkled some practical advice throughout the book, he mostly avoided offering handy prescriptions to the big problems humanity is facing. Instead, he focused on defining the parameters of discussion by giving the reader historical and philosophical context of the pressing issues. Ultimately, it is up to us, the readers, to come up with the answers.

Dr. Yuval Noah Harari. Source: The Telegraph

As the written in the book review by The New York Times, Harari, with an astute understanding of history and an acute awareness of our present circumstances, he presents a compelling argument for the urgent need to grapple with these complex issues. By delving into these lessons, we can gain invaluable insights into the challenges that lie ahead and, perhaps, find ways to navigate our rapidly evolving world.

Below you will find a list of my top 15 quotes from 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. These quotes will hopefully convince you to grab a copy of the book and embark on the exploration of the problems we face today as humans.

(1) “AI can outperform humans even in tasks that supposedly demand ‘intuition’. If you think AI needs to compete against the human soul in terms of mystical hunches — that sounds impossible. But if AI really needs to compete against neural networks in calculating probabilities and recognizing patterns — that sounds far less daunting.”

Sophia, a humanoid robot. Source: The Wallstreet Journal

(2) “We usually fail to realize that feelings are in fact calculations because the rapid process of calculation occurs far below our threshold of awareness. We don’t feel the millions of neurons in the brain computing probabilities of survival and reproduction, so we erroneously believe that our fear of snakes, our choice of sexual mates, or our opinions about the European Union are the result of some mysterious ‘free will’.”

Researchers at Duke University’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience asked study participants to rest and think about nothing in particular while inside a scanner like patients would for an MRI. They observed the peaks and dips of spontaneous emotions passing through the brain like clouds. Source: CNN Health

(3) “As authority shifts from humans to autonomous individuals we may no longer see the world as the playground of autonomous individuals struggling to make the right choices. Instead, we might perceive the entire universe as a flow of data, see organisms as little more than biochemical algorithms, and believe that humanity’s cosmic vocation is to create an all-encompassing data-processing system — and then merge it all.”

(4) “The danger is that if we invest too much in developing AI and too little in developing human consciousness, the very sophisticated AI of computers might only serve to empower the natural stupidity of humans.”

(5) “People all over the world were told that humankind is on the path to equality and that globalization and new technologies will help us get there sooner. In reality, the 21st century might create the most unequal societies in history. Through globalization and the Internet bridge the gap between countries, they threaten to enlarge the rift between classes, and just as humankind seems about to achieve global unification, the species itself might divide into different biological castes.”

(6) “Private ownership of one’s own data may sound more attractive than either of these options, but it is unclear what it actually means.”

The crypto ethos of data ownership is manifested in the creation of IPFS, which is a protocol, hypermedia, and file-sharing P2P network for storing and sharing data in a distributed way. In simple words, the more decentralized way of AWS.

(7) “Homo Sapiens eventually learned to use culture as a basis for large-scale cooperation, which is the key to our success as a species. But cultures are flexible. Therefore unlike ants or chimpanzees, Sapiens can organize themselves in many different ways…nation states are only one option on the Sapiens menu.”

As Harari said, nation-states are one of the many options we have. Another alternative is the concept of Network States. Technology has enabled us to start new companies, new communities, and new currencies. But can we use it to start new cities or even new countries? If you are interested in this concept, check out Balaji’s https://thenetworkstate.com/

(8) “Hello, I am Homo sapiens, and I am a fossil-fuel addict.”

(9) “Nationalist isolationism is probably even more dangerous in the context of climate change than of nuclear war. An all-out nuclear war threatens to destroy all nations, so all nations have an equal stake in preventing it. Global warming, in contrast, will probably have a different impact on different nations.”

The conversation on loss and damage related to climate change is inherently about equity It evokes the question: Why should countries that have done little to cause global warming be responsible for the damage resulting from the emissions of wealthy countries? If this interests you check the below report from the World Economic Forum.

Loss and damage: Who is responsible when climate change harms the world's poorest countries?

(10) “It takes a lot of courage to fight biases and oppressive regimes, but it takes even greater courage to admit ignorance and venture into the unknown.”

(11) “Secular movements and scientific institutions have mesmerized billions with promises to perfect humanity and to utilize the bounty of planet Earth for the benefit of our species.”

(12) “Homo sapiens is a post-truth species, whose power depends on creating and believing fiction. Ever since the Stone Age, self-reinforcing myths have served to unite human collectives.”

(13) (Advice to the next generation) “Due to the growing pace of change you can never be certain whether what the adults are telling you is timeless wisdom or outdated bias.”

(14) “Liberalism has a particularly confused notion of ‘free will’. Humans obviously have a will, they have desires. If by ‘free will’ you mean the freedom to do what you desire- then yes, humans have free will. But if by ‘free will’ you mean the freedom to choose what to desire- then no, humans have no free will.”

#04 Birth of Mr. Misang from Mr. Misang’s original series, [Modern Life Is Rubbish]. His NFT collection can be found here: https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/04.-birth-of-mr-misang-20051

(15) “A crucial step on this journey is to acknowledge that the ‘self’ is a fictional story that the intricate mechanisms of our mind constantly manufacture, update and rewrite.”

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