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A review by samporter
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
4.0
‘Homo Deus’ is the sequel to the famous ‘Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’ by Yuval Noah Harari. I read ‘Sapiens’ in Melbourne lockdown last year (what a time) which became the book bug that bit me back into the habit of reading! So of course, I was going to give its sequel a good hot go.
In ‘Homo Deus,’ Harari sets out the thesis of the book very early on, describing how he predicts that Sapiens will strive for immortality, bliss and superhuman powers in the next century. He leaves this hypothesis extremely broad and admits that the future and the priorities of Sapiens could change direction at any time (which is a fair disclaimer to make). Just don’t expect definitive conclusions about the future by the end of this book.
On its journey to a somewhat anticlimactic final chapter, the book meanders through a broad range of topics and questions that have their own mini-conclusions. Some chapters may seem slightly irrelevant at first but Harari tactfully establishes these arguments which form a bedrock of evidence to stabilise debates in following chapters. They say that “the journey is more important than the destination” and this rang true for me when reading ‘Homo Deus’. A lot of the chapters that fell outside the main thesis resonated with me more than the actual core arguments of the book.
One of these particular chapters detailed the relationship between Sapiens and animals. Harari asks, ‘What distinguishes Sapiens from other animals?’ What is our relationship with animals and how did it become that we think of ourselves as superior to them?’ He denounces the modern mistreatment of livestock and industrial farming practices. This struck a chord with me – making me simultaneously proud and shameful of my flexitarian dietary status; an ongoing battle in my mind between my love for animals and the pleasure of a Sunday roast dinner.
But do we even have a mind? Harari then asks. What about a soul? Tell me where the mind and the soul exists, he challenges, introducing us to the age-old philosophy of mind problems that caused me headaches in my undergraduate philosophy classes.
He covers religion too and not just traditional denominations but Communism, Capitalism, human rights theory, Nationalism and most importantly, Humanism – the current major religion of humans in the 21st Century.
Just like ‘Sapiens’, ‘Homo Deus’ is written in an accessible and conversational style which helps break down dense topics into palatable pieces. This is a definite strength of Harari’s writing. If you want to build up your general knowledge on an eclectic range of topics then read this book. I wouldn’t categorise ‘Homo Deus’ as a necessity to read in your life (as I do for ‘Sapiens’) but it does help to add a few wrinkles to the ol’ brain.
I did really enjoy ‘Homo Deus’… don’t get me wrong, but Harari’s airtight logic about the scientific nature of Sapiens and the lack of evidence for anything more divine in the world left me feeling a little short of breath. Harari is not there to reassure you of your purpose and existence. His job is to widen your perspective and expose you to new concepts and theories and he does succeed in his quest. It was fortunate that I finished the book on a sunny long weekend spending time with family and enjoying life’s simple pleasures…otherwise I may have spent those few days in a nihilistic spiral.
I should add that I wasn’t fond of the final chapter on the ‘Data Religion.’ It made logical sense, yes, but I felt as if Harari was trying too hard to persuade me to try and follow this new techno-religion. He lazily threw in a few lines of counter argument to appear unbiased but I wasn’t sold. Forgive me if I don’t want to worship global data as my new God. I am a logical person but I still feel that I have a soul! (Just don’t ask me to explain where in my body it is).
4 stars for this.
In ‘Homo Deus,’ Harari sets out the thesis of the book very early on, describing how he predicts that Sapiens will strive for immortality, bliss and superhuman powers in the next century. He leaves this hypothesis extremely broad and admits that the future and the priorities of Sapiens could change direction at any time (which is a fair disclaimer to make). Just don’t expect definitive conclusions about the future by the end of this book.
On its journey to a somewhat anticlimactic final chapter, the book meanders through a broad range of topics and questions that have their own mini-conclusions. Some chapters may seem slightly irrelevant at first but Harari tactfully establishes these arguments which form a bedrock of evidence to stabilise debates in following chapters. They say that “the journey is more important than the destination” and this rang true for me when reading ‘Homo Deus’. A lot of the chapters that fell outside the main thesis resonated with me more than the actual core arguments of the book.
One of these particular chapters detailed the relationship between Sapiens and animals. Harari asks, ‘What distinguishes Sapiens from other animals?’ What is our relationship with animals and how did it become that we think of ourselves as superior to them?’ He denounces the modern mistreatment of livestock and industrial farming practices. This struck a chord with me – making me simultaneously proud and shameful of my flexitarian dietary status; an ongoing battle in my mind between my love for animals and the pleasure of a Sunday roast dinner.
But do we even have a mind? Harari then asks. What about a soul? Tell me where the mind and the soul exists, he challenges, introducing us to the age-old philosophy of mind problems that caused me headaches in my undergraduate philosophy classes.
He covers religion too and not just traditional denominations but Communism, Capitalism, human rights theory, Nationalism and most importantly, Humanism – the current major religion of humans in the 21st Century.
Just like ‘Sapiens’, ‘Homo Deus’ is written in an accessible and conversational style which helps break down dense topics into palatable pieces. This is a definite strength of Harari’s writing. If you want to build up your general knowledge on an eclectic range of topics then read this book. I wouldn’t categorise ‘Homo Deus’ as a necessity to read in your life (as I do for ‘Sapiens’) but it does help to add a few wrinkles to the ol’ brain.
I did really enjoy ‘Homo Deus’… don’t get me wrong, but Harari’s airtight logic about the scientific nature of Sapiens and the lack of evidence for anything more divine in the world left me feeling a little short of breath. Harari is not there to reassure you of your purpose and existence. His job is to widen your perspective and expose you to new concepts and theories and he does succeed in his quest. It was fortunate that I finished the book on a sunny long weekend spending time with family and enjoying life’s simple pleasures…otherwise I may have spent those few days in a nihilistic spiral.
I should add that I wasn’t fond of the final chapter on the ‘Data Religion.’ It made logical sense, yes, but I felt as if Harari was trying too hard to persuade me to try and follow this new techno-religion. He lazily threw in a few lines of counter argument to appear unbiased but I wasn’t sold. Forgive me if I don’t want to worship global data as my new God. I am a logical person but I still feel that I have a soul! (Just don’t ask me to explain where in my body it is).
4 stars for this.