Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Holy food for thought Batman!
I started this in paperback several years ago, and life and I just got in the way of finishing. Running across it in my digital library's audio book section was just the reminder I needed. The narration was good, my focus was typical, so there's a good chance the paperback will make it's way into my physical book queue later on.
I started this in paperback several years ago, and life and I just got in the way of finishing. Running across it in my digital library's audio book section was just the reminder I needed. The narration was good, my focus was typical, so there's a good chance the paperback will make it's way into my physical book queue later on.
Really interesting, although not as good as the first book. Also very speculative, but that was the premise of the book.
Sapiens rocked my world - a stunning review of the History of Mankind. I was so excited to read Harari's take on the future, having been riveted by his rollicking rollercoaster through the past. But he wrote this book in 2015 - and it has dated a little through no fault of his own. He talks about a peaceful war-less world - and this view of the future is pre Trump, pre Boris, pre Putin's Ukraine War, pre Brexit, pre Covid, pre the "Permacrisis" as The World Ahead 2023 from The Economist calls it that I have open currently.
He was more anti religion in this book I felt, and sometimes so much so he felt more biased against the great faiths of the world in a modern day where I feel his other arguments are usually more enjoyably balanced - but this may be overly critical a point on my part, just a feeling I was left with somewhat. That’s not to say his critiques weren’t compelling though, and his points salient.
I've still enjoyed every word - I share much of Harari's world view, and love his writing style. And so I shall still look forward to reading his 2018 offering - which albeit pre pandemic will at least be written through the lens of a little more recent history included. I guess we need a fourth book from him don't we... I'll certainly buy it.
In the mean time, I've picked up "What We Owe The Future: A Million Year View" just published, from William Macaskill while we await further from Harari - and shall report back soon.
He was more anti religion in this book I felt, and sometimes so much so he felt more biased against the great faiths of the world in a modern day where I feel his other arguments are usually more enjoyably balanced - but this may be overly critical a point on my part, just a feeling I was left with somewhat. That’s not to say his critiques weren’t compelling though, and his points salient.
I've still enjoyed every word - I share much of Harari's world view, and love his writing style. And so I shall still look forward to reading his 2018 offering - which albeit pre pandemic will at least be written through the lens of a little more recent history included. I guess we need a fourth book from him don't we... I'll certainly buy it.
In the mean time, I've picked up "What We Owe The Future: A Million Year View" just published, from William Macaskill while we await further from Harari - and shall report back soon.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Listened to on audiobook. Just FASCINATING!! 10/10 recommend.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari was an interesting take on where the human race is headed.
So, I read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and I absolutely loved it so I was excited for Homo Deus.
There is definately still lots of history in it to give us a more thorough timeline leading up to Yuval's belief that we are in the process of changing our very chemical makeup from Homo Sapien into something new with technological advances.
Helmets that promote absolute focus. Breeding mice and inserting electrodes into their brains to control their every movement, action, and thought, and of course AI.
"You want to know how super-intelligent cyborgs might treat ordinary flesh-and-blood humans? Better start by investigating how humans treat their less intelligent animal cousins. It’s not a perfect analogy, of course, but it is the best archetype we can actually observe rather than just imagine."
So, I read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and I absolutely loved it so I was excited for Homo Deus.
There is definately still lots of history in it to give us a more thorough timeline leading up to Yuval's belief that we are in the process of changing our very chemical makeup from Homo Sapien into something new with technological advances.
Helmets that promote absolute focus. Breeding mice and inserting electrodes into their brains to control their every movement, action, and thought, and of course AI.
"You want to know how super-intelligent cyborgs might treat ordinary flesh-and-blood humans? Better start by investigating how humans treat their less intelligent animal cousins. It’s not a perfect analogy, of course, but it is the best archetype we can actually observe rather than just imagine."
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Ik was al fan van Sapiens, maar deze vind ik eigenlijk nog iets beter. Yahari neemt je mee in een projectie van de wereld waar je zelf niet snel op zou komen, en hij gaat steeds een stapje verder. Kritisch blijven over wat je leest, maar nieuwsgierig zijn en gretig deze visie opslorpen zodat er er weken later nog over moet nadenken. Daar geniet ik als lezer van.
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Good follow up to Sapiens. I loved Sapiens. Read it twice back-to-back. It left on what could be considered a bit of a cliffhanger. Homo Deus picks up where Sapiens left off. And by the end of the book, I'm pretty convinced the world dominated by Terminators is nigh!, all because of human greed to live longer, be more perfect, customize DNA, offload work to robots, feed the learning machines, etc., because there's no such thing as enough in this constant growth economy. It's the Tower of Babel all over again, except this time, instead of being dispersed by language, it'll be the language of the machines that subjugate us.
Earlier tonight, a college friend asked me to read her book. She's a writer, and I considered it a privilege. I opened it in Microsoft Word, and Copilot asked if I wanted a summary of it. I was curious and said yes. In under a minute, it had read all 280 pages and provided me a synopsis, character analyses, and a summary of themes. I'm a fast reader, but I can't do that.
The future has begun people!!!!! It's a self-propagating internet blob, and all we do is feed it our data. Assume zero privacy. Assume the machines are listening greedily. Assume the machines are filling in the blanks for you. It starts with a friendly email from Amazon saying it's found something you might like. And it grows from there (we are using robots at my company to do some of the repeatable grunt work, but the embedded AI is lurking around, listening, and learning - very fast!). It starts with a "helpful" offer to summarize a book for me. It ends with doing all the thinking for me - essentially, a digital lobotomy. It ends by telling me what to do, what I want, and what I need.
Scared? Intrigued? Unbelieving? Read the book!
Earlier tonight, a college friend asked me to read her book. She's a writer, and I considered it a privilege. I opened it in Microsoft Word, and Copilot asked if I wanted a summary of it. I was curious and said yes. In under a minute, it had read all 280 pages and provided me a synopsis, character analyses, and a summary of themes. I'm a fast reader, but I can't do that.
The future has begun people!!!!! It's a self-propagating internet blob, and all we do is feed it our data. Assume zero privacy. Assume the machines are listening greedily. Assume the machines are filling in the blanks for you. It starts with a friendly email from Amazon saying it's found something you might like. And it grows from there (we are using robots at my company to do some of the repeatable grunt work, but the embedded AI is lurking around, listening, and learning - very fast!). It starts with a "helpful" offer to summarize a book for me. It ends with doing all the thinking for me - essentially, a digital lobotomy. It ends by telling me what to do, what I want, and what I need.
Scared? Intrigued? Unbelieving? Read the book!