21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Creative insights while looking at the big picture. He expresses them in clear, easy-to-read prose.

The best chapters earn 5 stars while a couple didn’t do much for me (Meaning, religion).

Secularism essay is great. He defines the secular code as enshrining the values of truth, compassion, equality, freedom, courage, and responsibility. Shows how each follows from the ones listed before.
Thus, he shows why it is “groundless to criticize secularism for lacking ethical commitments or social responsibility”.

His take on information technology advances is top notch and thought provoking:

“we are now creating tame humans that produce enormous amounts of data and function as very efficient chips in a huge data-processing mechanism, … If we are not careful, we will end up with downgraded humans misusing upgraded computers to wreak havoc on themselves and on the world.”

One solution he offers:
“for every dollar and every minute we invest in improving AI, it would be wise to invest a dollar and a minute in advancing human consciousness …. to understand the deep causes of suffering.”




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