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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Not as groundbreaking as his previous books. Lots of basic ideas, but not a lot of new ones.
Enjoyed this more than both Sapiens and Homo Deus.
Like its predecessors, the book features the author's multidisciplinary and provocative musings on various threads running through history. This book felt more grounded and somewhat practical - not surprising given that it was indeed supposed to be comparatively more focused on the present and immediate future.
Many nuggets of wisdom and insightful observations scattered alongside the numerous hilarious burns (as long as you agree) of religion and nationalism and other infantile stories that we humans have not yet weaned off.
At the same time, the book is also a depressing one - think Black Mirror mixed with A Brave New World mixed with Christopher Hitchens and Paul R. Ehrlich. We are indeed a species facing potentially catastrophic problems on a global scale, while still stupidly squabbling about parochial, ephemeral trivialities.
Like its predecessors, the book features the author's multidisciplinary and provocative musings on various threads running through history. This book felt more grounded and somewhat practical - not surprising given that it was indeed supposed to be comparatively more focused on the present and immediate future.
Many nuggets of wisdom and insightful observations scattered alongside the numerous hilarious burns (as long as you agree) of religion and nationalism and other infantile stories that we humans have not yet weaned off.
At the same time, the book is also a depressing one - think Black Mirror mixed with A Brave New World mixed with Christopher Hitchens and Paul R. Ehrlich. We are indeed a species facing potentially catastrophic problems on a global scale, while still stupidly squabbling about parochial, ephemeral trivialities.
After the first couple of chapters, I was ready to give this book 1 or 2 stars. There was a lot of talk about artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data - all topics that are familiar to me because of my profession as a software engineer. I got the impression that the author did not fully understand what he was writing about. The narrative in those chapters is pervaded by pessimism, and paints a world where people have no jobs, and all their movements and thoughts are controlled and predicted by "the algorithm", an ominous presence that nobody really understands. In this future reality, according to the author, people would become irrelevant and would be completely dominated by machines and by a biologically-enhanced human elite. But here's a big inconsistency in this narrative: if people become so irrelevant, why is it so important for algorithms to be able to know and predict people? In other words, why should an "elite" develop algorithms that study people, if people are so irrelevant? So much for irrelevance - the "elite" still wants a lot from the rest of humanity! It sounds to me like people are just as relevant as they are today, or else "the algorithm" and the marketing machines would not give people so much attention.
Besides, nobody really knows what is going to happen with AI. How do we know that the current trend of deep learning techniques will keep evolving and will reach such levels of sophistication that will push people into irrelevance? Deep learning is just a statistical method that is enhanced by today's powerful CPUs and GPUs, but how do we know its capabilities will not plateau in the future? Today's neural networks are great at specific tasks, but they are absolutely nowhere near a position where they can match biological intelligence when it comes to things such as having a morality or conscience (mostly because we don't even know how it works with us in the first place). On the other hand, these algorithms do have the potential to enhance our lives by aiding us in mundane tasks, or in tasks where our feelings might be counter-productive (e.g. driving).
Harari only writes about pessimistic scenarios that are borderline dystopian - he should consider more optimistic ones instead. There's plenty that AI and big data can help us with.
The next few chapters were a bit better, but overall felt a bit disconnected. There was a lot of jumping here and there, and at this stage I felt the book lacked a coherent structure.
Luckily, Harari writes very well. His writing style is engaging and clear and it kept me reading despite my disagreements on the book's content and apparent lack of a cohesive narrative.
Well, I am glad I kept reading, because the end of the book is much better - especially parts 4 and 5. I guess this is Harari's familiar territory: here, he is able to combine his deep knowledge in history and sociology with clear insights about contemporary society and about human beings. The 20th chapter, "Meaning", was probably the best of the entire book.
Besides, nobody really knows what is going to happen with AI. How do we know that the current trend of deep learning techniques will keep evolving and will reach such levels of sophistication that will push people into irrelevance? Deep learning is just a statistical method that is enhanced by today's powerful CPUs and GPUs, but how do we know its capabilities will not plateau in the future? Today's neural networks are great at specific tasks, but they are absolutely nowhere near a position where they can match biological intelligence when it comes to things such as having a morality or conscience (mostly because we don't even know how it works with us in the first place). On the other hand, these algorithms do have the potential to enhance our lives by aiding us in mundane tasks, or in tasks where our feelings might be counter-productive (e.g. driving).
Harari only writes about pessimistic scenarios that are borderline dystopian - he should consider more optimistic ones instead. There's plenty that AI and big data can help us with.
The next few chapters were a bit better, but overall felt a bit disconnected. There was a lot of jumping here and there, and at this stage I felt the book lacked a coherent structure.
Luckily, Harari writes very well. His writing style is engaging and clear and it kept me reading despite my disagreements on the book's content and apparent lack of a cohesive narrative.
Well, I am glad I kept reading, because the end of the book is much better - especially parts 4 and 5. I guess this is Harari's familiar territory: here, he is able to combine his deep knowledge in history and sociology with clear insights about contemporary society and about human beings. The 20th chapter, "Meaning", was probably the best of the entire book.
Fantastic book - I listened to the audio version doing my daily walks. Great tone, language and pace - kept me totally engaged and thinking the whole time.
The author was not preachy or teachy, but walked the talk from his introduction, in that he drew together lots of ideas and information and got the reader thinking about it. Where do I stand on this? How does this make me feel? Do I need to find out more about this?
I have a background in science, education and I am a mother and so that informed my approach to the education chapter - there were a couple of points the author made that caused me to shout out loud on my walk! Good job I only had the dogs with me.
He talks about the older person not being able to change/not wanting to change, how the latest generation when they hit 50 will be required to train again at a time humans would not normally want to.....as a 50+ mother, I have to say my experience has been that mothers/primary caregivers who have 'paused working life' to bring up children have been doing this kind of flexible learning for many, many years - in fact (again this is anecdotal) my experience over the pandemic is that women 'over a certain age' are taking life by the horns, they are lifelong learners, crafts, arts, courses of all sorts.....could we not harness this to support our children going into the future of flux? (Rather than middle-aged white males designing education?)
With that in mind, the author also said education systems are trying to catch up with the shift in learning emphasis - i.e. skills rather than transmission of knowledge - teachers are poorly prepared for this etc.....
I would suggest a look, a serious look, at what Montessori Education provision is about and how it manifests in different parts of the world - I trained in both mainstream and Montessori secondary education - my children were Montessori ECE and a little primary provided - this is my opinion, but I truly believe it slots into that chapter - I think chapter 9....we don't need to make up new education systems, the blueprint has been there all along.....
There! You see, the author has absolutely succeeded in engaging the reader...top marks Mr Harari
The author was not preachy or teachy, but walked the talk from his introduction, in that he drew together lots of ideas and information and got the reader thinking about it. Where do I stand on this? How does this make me feel? Do I need to find out more about this?
I have a background in science, education and I am a mother and so that informed my approach to the education chapter - there were a couple of points the author made that caused me to shout out loud on my walk! Good job I only had the dogs with me.
He talks about the older person not being able to change/not wanting to change, how the latest generation when they hit 50 will be required to train again at a time humans would not normally want to.....as a 50+ mother, I have to say my experience has been that mothers/primary caregivers who have 'paused working life' to bring up children have been doing this kind of flexible learning for many, many years - in fact (again this is anecdotal) my experience over the pandemic is that women 'over a certain age' are taking life by the horns, they are lifelong learners, crafts, arts, courses of all sorts.....could we not harness this to support our children going into the future of flux? (Rather than middle-aged white males designing education?)
With that in mind, the author also said education systems are trying to catch up with the shift in learning emphasis - i.e. skills rather than transmission of knowledge - teachers are poorly prepared for this etc.....
I would suggest a look, a serious look, at what Montessori Education provision is about and how it manifests in different parts of the world - I trained in both mainstream and Montessori secondary education - my children were Montessori ECE and a little primary provided - this is my opinion, but I truly believe it slots into that chapter - I think chapter 9....we don't need to make up new education systems, the blueprint has been there all along.....
There! You see, the author has absolutely succeeded in engaging the reader...top marks Mr Harari
To be honest I enjoyed a lot of his insights, but this felt more like a manifesto with more questions than answers.
Sapiens, also by written Harari, had been on my “to read” list for quite some time. When I finally read it I realized I should have read it sooner. I think Sapiens is a must read book for everyone on the planet. So, of course I was thrilled to have an opportunity to read 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I was not disappointed.
Harari has incredible talent for being able to analyse the world as it is today and project into the future. Touching on many subjects such as artificial intelligence, religion, fascism, meditation and more, the reader must decide whether or not to agree with Harari’s assessments. Personally I think his vision of the future is truly credible and for those who agree, this read may be frightening. Although Harari doesn't offer much upside, at least if mankind can see our possible future, maybe we can be vigilant and try to take steps to avoid what may be in store.
These are the lessons. There is no real roadmap to a better tomorrow, rather warning signs along the way. Mankind owes Harari gratitude for a chance to take a better way.
This is a must read.
Harari has incredible talent for being able to analyse the world as it is today and project into the future. Touching on many subjects such as artificial intelligence, religion, fascism, meditation and more, the reader must decide whether or not to agree with Harari’s assessments. Personally I think his vision of the future is truly credible and for those who agree, this read may be frightening. Although Harari doesn't offer much upside, at least if mankind can see our possible future, maybe we can be vigilant and try to take steps to avoid what may be in store.
These are the lessons. There is no real roadmap to a better tomorrow, rather warning signs along the way. Mankind owes Harari gratitude for a chance to take a better way.
This is a must read.
Some interesting perspectives and I recommend reading it. One of the very few modern day big picture thinkers with a good grounding in science. Having said that, some of the conclusions are a little trite. Still well worth it, as is the rest of the series!
Very bleak and almost bitter compared to his other books. By the very nature of the book's structure, the 21 lessons are too brief and his reasoning has no substance. I'm sure some of the chapters are very well thought out, but his publisher hasn't given him the space to really explain his conclusions. There are thought-provoking parts nonetheless, but the really interesting bits - the bits where he ought to diving deeper, are found wanting.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5/5. I loved Sapiens. It made me think differently about our species. Harari‘s second book, Homo Deus, was fun to read; it was full of (wild) speculations about Homo Sapiens’s future. This book, which is about our current times and the next 50 or so years, is not as coherent as Sapiens or Homo Deus. There are musings about technology and its impact, about the possible changes in the political landscape, about religion, etc but I have read these things elsewhere. In addition, a lot of the discussions just scratch the surface. I lost interest towards the end, although there are interesting thoughts on education.
Harari is an excellent observer of our times. I am glad that I’ve read this book. I just wish Harari had covered less topics and instead gone more into depth.
Harari is an excellent observer of our times. I am glad that I’ve read this book. I just wish Harari had covered less topics and instead gone more into depth.