Homo Deus

Harari says the problems of famine, war and pestilence have been largely solved. How can he not be bothered by climate change and the threat of nuclear war? He deftly taxonomises reality into three forms - objective, subjective and inter-subjective, then fails to apply his specious system to his own dogma. He declares the ideas of techno-fascist Peter Thiel to be worthwhile simply because Thiel is rich. He equates emotions to algorithms, as if a parent's love for their child could be reproduced as a slider in a character creation page in The Sims video game.

These are the ideas of delusional trans-humanists who think they will be able to use their money to turn science fiction ideas into reality and buy immortality.

I give him one star for two reasons: his ideas on inter-subjective reality are actually quite powerful if applied judiciously. Also, there's a killer sentence: the line about god being dead but believers are having trouble trying to hide the body is an atheistic sick burn. But he then goes on to praise his own religion, Vipassana meditation, which looks suspiciously like an abusive new age cult where I'm from. I might have given him two stars if it weren't for that supreme silliness.

Harari should be wearing the same hair shirt as Francis Fukuyama.

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari is a good companion to Harari's "Sapiens" in that takes some of the seeds sown in that book and allows them to grow up into a tangled jungle. In fact, feels like a continuation or variation on a theme from the first book. You do not need to read "Sapiens" but it is interesting to see an author take larger idea and repackage them for different arguments. And this is not a pretty package. "Homo Deus" is the kind of book that can keep you up at night with existential dread. Once you read it, you cannot unlearn it and you begin to see Harari's analysis everywhere.

Like its predecessor, this is a macro-history that weaves together big ideas over thousands of years. But "Homo Deus" is more focused on a singular premise. His basic argument is that the three big ideas that will define the 21st Century are 1) a world without suffering, 2) a world without death, and 3) a world where human have modified their bodies through technology. He proceeds to unpack these ideas to show how we have gotten to this point. Many of his larger themes are present here - the idea of inter-subjective realities, the importance of history, how things change, etc.... By the end of the book, the author concludes that the liberal world order we've inherited is also fading, just at the time that advances in technology, biology, and psychology are bringing us to a tipping point when differences between humans could become permanent realities.This book does not end happily and for many, the two possible futures that Harari presents (a techno-utopia and the data religion) are equally scary. But the point is not to keep us scared but to help us see that if we understand where something comes from, we might be able to channel our futures towards a better outcome.

My main critique of the book remains the same as my critique of Sapiens. Harari presents a far too simplistic reading of religion as a language to speak to the changes around us. I am not convinced that religion is obsolete and I think that religion can a means to understand and resist the changes that Harari so starkly describes. I would add that some might find the ideas repetitive if they have read "Sapiens" first but truthfully speaking, the ideas and concepts that Harari describes are important and worth repeating.

In this sequel to [b:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind|23692271|Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind|Yuval Noah Harari|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420585954s/23692271.jpg|18962767][b:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind|23692271|Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind|Yuval Noah Harari|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420585954s/23692271.jpg|18962767] Yuval Noah Harari explores what could be the future of humanity, as charted from where we come.
It is a worthy companion to the first book, in my opinion. As it introduces a very powerful reflection around what are the plausible effects of technology into our culture going forward. One of the most intriguing ideas on Harari's line of questioning is for me the importance of intersubjective reality for human societies. This comes down to the stories we tell ourselves and the institutions, symbols, religions and even corporations that come out of them. From there Harari illustrates how we got to our "humanist" (at least in theory) society and where could we go from here. What does a "post-humanist" world look like?
These are great ideas to ponder and wonder about, and personally I am thankful I have found in these books a very fertile ground from where to start thinking about these enormous questions.
I loved this book too. :)