Homo Deus A brief history of tomorrow
BOOK NOTE
Author: Yuhal Noah Harari
Read: December 3, 2022
I can’t get enough of Yuhal Noah Harari´s thought-provoking books. After reading Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (book summaries still to come), I had to devour his other book, Homo Deus.
Although Yuval Noah Harari published "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" in 2016, his arguments about the role of technology in shaping humanity's future seem more pertinent than ever in light of recent advancements in artificial intelligence that has taken us by storm and become part of our daily lives. I’m talking about Chat GPT, of course.
Some of his chilling arguments about how technological advancements will fundamentally alter the world we know today and potentially threaten our most deeply held values, including the belief that every human being is a uniquely valuable individual are:
“Humans will lose their economic and military usefulness, hence the economic and political system will stop attaching much value to them.
The system will continue to find value in humans collectively, but not in unique individuals.
The system will still find value in some unique individuals, but the will constitute a new elite of upgraded superhunans rather than the mass of the population.”
Moreover, it’s an interesting concept to grasp, but Harari further argues that our new agenda in the 21st century will create “techno-religions.” The two types are: techno humanism, where “Homo sapiens will run its historical course and will no longer be relevant in the future. Therefore use technology to create Homo Deus - superhuman,” Data religion, on the other hand, Harari says is our belief we seem to already be living by that data is an incredibly valuable resource, as we put more and more emphasis on data-driven algorithms to help make our decisions on everything from what content we consume, how to optimize our health, and even shape our understanding of our ourselves.
There is so much more to sink into in this thought-provoking examination of humanity´s future. Harari also raises important ethical and philosophical questions, as we strive to gain ever-greater control over the world around us. They are certainly complex (and can seem far fetched, but is it?).
I’ll leave you with the questions he asks his readers to ruminate on even after reading his book:
“Are organisms really just algorithms, and is life really just data processing?
What’s more valuable- intelligence or consciousness?
What will happen to society, politics and daily life when non-conscious but highly intelligent algorithms know us better than we know ourselves?”
READ IT OR NOT: You won’t be able to put it down.
