Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
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Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods. Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to accept, but, as Harari explains in his trademark style—thorough, yet riveting—famine, plague and war have been transformed from incomprehensible and uncontrollable forces of nature into manageable challenges. For the first time ever, more people die from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals put together. The average American is a thousand times more likely to die from binging at McDonalds than from being blown up by Al Qaeda. What then will replace famine, plague, and war at the top of the human agenda? As the self-made gods of planet earth, what destinies will we set ourselves, and which quests will we undertake? Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century—from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers? This is the next stage of evolution. This is Homo Deus. With the same insight and clarity that made Sapiens an international hit and a New York Times bestseller, Harari maps out our future.
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Homo Deus is an engaging and thought-provoking read that explores the evolution of Homo Sapiens into the god-like Homo Deus. I would say that it's not necessarily an “easy read” as there were multiple points in the book where I had to stop to really digest the content. Overall, very provocative.
Homo Deus is an engaging and thought-provoking read that explores the evolution of Homo Sapiens into the god-like Homo Deus. I would say that it's not necessarily an “easy read” as there were multiple points in the book where I had to stop to really digest the content. Overall, very provocative.
"Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus shows us where we're going." After recently having read The Skeptics Guide to The Future, I jumped on the tomorrow bandwagon, and the premise of Y. N. Harari's Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow clicked instantly with me.
Throughout the book, I felt engaged and emotionally invested. The narrative flows seamlessly from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph. Y. N. Harari uses his historical expertise to connect the dots and form a cohesive story. Although the author spends the first 80 pages setting the stage, I was happy to be along for the journey.
While some might expect concrete predictions, Y. N. Harari takes a different approach, opting instead to expand our minds and stimulate our imaginations and fears. As the author puts it, "instead of narrowing our horizons by forecasting a single scenario, the book aims to broaden our horizons and make us aware of a much wider spectrum of options."
Can we envision a future in which we willingly surrender all our privacy? Decades ago, the notion of people recording every aspect of their lives and sharing it with millions of strangers would have seemed absurd. Will we need the counsel of friends, relatives, and spouses if Dataism suggests that a system knows us better than we know ourselves? Will our experiences eventually be valued as little as those of sheep?
If you want a more philosophical take on the future, Homo Deus can scratch that itch. By the end of the book, you will likely have collected a range of deep reflections and questions you haven't thought of before. I know I certainly did, and this is why it's easy for me to recommend this book.
