Authors: Yuval Noah Harari
Date read: 2023-01-21
21 Lessons for the 21st Century is about our what lies ahead of us in the 21st century. Perhaps the most important idea of the book is that the advances in science will completely outdate the previous core values that the world is abased on. For instance the progress of because of progresses in biotech and infotech and their confluence, will make machines/AI to hack human body and get to know us even better than ourselves, thus the authority will shift from humans to machines/AI (contrary to liberalism that believes people know the best for themselves).
I'd like to summarize the 21 chapters of the book, so that in the future I can easily refresh my memory:
- Disillusionment: in 20th century there were three main stories for human beings: Fascism (focuses superiority of nation/race and keeping it pure), Communism (focuses on equality of different classes) and Liberalism (focuses on freedom in all the aspects: individual, social, political and economy). There first two have disappeared—because of war and dysfunctional economy—, and Liberalism has faced unprecedented challenges as progresses of biotech and infotech threaten its core values (people know the best for themselves).
- Work: job market will be significantly different in 2050, and machines will fill many positions that humans used to do. But why? Humans have two main functionalities: physical and cognitive. With AI, machines will be able to undertake not only physical tasks, but now also cognitive tasks. In 2050 one will not have a fixed job for the rest of her life, rather one will need to learn and change her job every 10 years. The most important ability for us is to know how to adapt and learn new things.
- Liberty: Liberalism believes that humans have free will: "customer is always right", "voter knows the best", ... . But this "free will" is the result of activities of millions of neurons in the brain. So, if machines learn how to measure these signals, it would mean that they will be able to know us better than ourselves. They can tell me whether I should study Geology, whether I'm gay or I should start playing basketball. Therefore, the authority will shift from humans to machines.
- Equality: in the last few decades humans have increasingly lived under better circumstances. But we should not take this for granted. As infotech and biotech advance, they will be able to manipulate human genes. Well, the 1% rich people could use these expensive technologies to improve themselves and children to be smarter, more beautiful and more creative. In fact, these "super humans" may rule billions of irrelevant "Homo Sapiens". Therefore, humans may experience such inequality that was never seen before.
- Community: one of the fundamental needs of humans is being member in a community. Since our hunter-gatherers ancestor had a lot of physical activity, it is in our gene that we need it too. Online communities (e.g. in Facebook) do not completely replace physical contact.
- Civilization: humans are marching toward one global civilization. Yes, occasionally there are stark disputes between nations, but in general more or less all believe in the world order, respect to other countries' border, etc. What will be our identity then? Will we forgo being French or German? Not really. Like European Union, we can be both German and European. We need to take into account that our identity will be determined by our differences not our similarities. For example, identity of Europeans is what they think about climate change and immigration.
- Nationalism: it is okay to feel committed to the country, pay taxes, take care of others, etc. The problem arises when we think our nation is superior (Fascism). In general, we need societies like European Union that work together on global problems, because in 21st century our problems are global.
- Religion: to understand whether religion can help in 21st century, we need to know that religion has no answer to new technical and political problems, such as AI, global warming, etc. However, religion is very effective in giving humans identity. Because of religion's propaganda, it makes us believe that it has a universal story, and we are important, because we can be part of that story.
- Immigration: this is not a simple subject. How many immigrants, accepting the host country's culture by immigrants, and becoming us, are the topics that are discussed. Harari argues that we shouldn't be completely irresponsible about other countries and accept a reasonable number immigrants. What does "reasonable" mean? Tough to rule out a number for all the countries.
- Terrorism: terrorists are weak and since they cannot change anything, they terrify the people in the hope that their government undertakes a significant response. After this response, terrorists' situation may improve. So governments should refrain from crazy actions. However, if terrorists achieve mass destruction weapons (atomic bomb), there will be no longer safety on the planet. Therefore, governments should make sure that terrorists stay far from these weapons.
- War: in the 20th century wars flourished countries' economy. In 21st century, however, that's no longer the case because atomic bombs are the biggest peace-keepers, and the biggest source of wealth is knowledge and not mines or farms. Nevertheless, we should never underestimate human's stupidity.
- Humility: each religion/nation believes that they are the most important thing in the universe. This can ignite more and more disputes in the world. In general, no one is really important, and we should be all modest. It's simply better for us.
- God: in the past it was widely believed that morality (not killing each other, not lying, etc) comes from God and religion. But science has shown us that being moral is in our DNA. The ones who were immoral were outcasted by our ancestors. So we don't need God to be moral in the 21st century.
- Secularism: the core values of secularism are "seeking the truth" (belief based on evidence), "avoid suffering" (both to yourself and others), "freedom", "equality". In addition, secularism admits to its mistakes, acknowledges its mistakes and seeks the truth. It takes a lot of courage to be secularist, because it is hard to admit your mistakes.
- Ignorance: humans rarely use their brain to think logically. We are group-thinker creatures that avoid deducing something, because it is less-energy consuming for us to repeat and rely on our group's thoughts. Power is a blackhole that compounds ignorance, because politicians are surrounded by flatterers, thus their view of the problems becomes distorted. It's simply better for all of us to acknowledge our ignorance. We know less than we think.
- Justice: our Homo-Sapianish brain is not tailored for our today's dilemmas. It has become significantly more difficult to know whether something is "right" or not.
- Post-Truth: everyday we encounter numerous lies and stories all around the world, from politicians to normal people. From when did this wave of fictions and lies start? The truth is from the beginning of Homo Sapiens. Our very existence is based on the fact that we could invent fictions, stories and lies (without knowing that they are not true), and working together to dominate the planet. So from where should we get our source of information then? Some media are simply brainwashing machines, supported by some groups. They give us free content in exchange for brainwashing us. It would be probably better to pay for the media that we consume.
- Science Fiction: in the context of AI and machines, we are usually told that we should be scared of their revolution against humanity. Harari argues that the most scary thing is super humans (improved by machines) that rule masses of Homo Sapiens.
- Education: we have no idea how the job market will look like in 2080 or in 2050. In the past people were trained once (e.g. until they became 20 years old), and then started a career probably for the rest of their lives. In 2050 however, this will not be the case. We should be ready for learning new subjects and working in the new fields, because AI will increasingly fill humans' job positions. The most important thing is to know how to learn and adapt.
- Meaning: we as Homo Sapiens love stories. When we follow a story (e.g. religion) it makes its devotees believe that they are important. But why do we follow such stories? Because few people question the beliefs that they were brainwashed in their childhood. Sacrificing through rituals is the way that we keep these stories alive. When we sacrifice something, we are trapped: we won't admit that it is wrong as it would make a fool out of us. Liberalism, on the other hand, says that there is no pre-made story to find meaning for her life. Each person should try different things as much as possible to find meaning in her life. This is certainly a big improvement comparing to the older stories, but the problem is we choose what to do, but we cannot choose what to think (and consequently to do). The thing is there is no story in life. The universe is made of some atoms that have disappered for no good reason (the same as some sub-particles that appear and disappear in fraction of a second).
- Harari argues that observation our thoughts through meditation can lead us to a better awareness of ourselves. Observing is the key here, not controlling.
I truly enjoyed reading the book and the outlook that it gives us for the 21st century.
Rating: 5/5