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A review by the_grimm_reader
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
4.0
I read Homo Deus right after finishing Sapiens, and to me, they feel like two parts of one bold and thought-provoking journey. If Sapiens explored how we got here, Homo Deus dares to ask where we’re going—and it doesn’t shy away from some wild, unsettling answers.
Harari starts with a striking idea: humanity has more or less conquered its old enemies—plague, famine, and war. With those forces mostly under control, we’re now turning our attention to new frontiers: immortality, artificial intelligence, and god-like power. The question he raises is simple but staggering—are we turning ourselves into gods?
I’ll be honest: the book isn’t always easy reading. Harari mixes philosophy, history, science, and speculation into a blend that can sometimes feel overwhelming. But he’s a sharp thinker, and even when I didn’t fully agree with him, I appreciated being pushed to consider ideas I hadn’t thought about before.
One of the big takeaways for me was the idea that as we become more powerful, we may also become more irrelevant. If algorithms and machines become smarter and more capable than we are—what’s left for us to do? Harari suggests that meaning itself might become harder to hold onto. That’s a haunting thought.
He also talks about the rise of “Dataism”—a belief system where the ultimate value is data and its processing. It sounds strange, but the way things are trending, I could see it. We already trust algorithms to drive cars, pick music, and even diagnose illness. What happens when they start making decisions about life itself?
There’s another chilling point he makes: these god-like technologies won’t be available to everyone. The future may belong to the rich—those who can afford upgrades, life extension, or even a kind of immortality. It’s both fascinating and deeply unfair. Reading Harari definitely made me reflect on what kind of world we’re building, and who gets to shape it.
In the end, Homo Deus didn’t give me hope or despair—but it did leave me thinking, hard. And that’s what I want from a book like this. If you’re curious about the future, and willing to wrestle with some big questions, I think it’s absolutely worth reading.
Harari starts with a striking idea: humanity has more or less conquered its old enemies—plague, famine, and war. With those forces mostly under control, we’re now turning our attention to new frontiers: immortality, artificial intelligence, and god-like power. The question he raises is simple but staggering—are we turning ourselves into gods?
I’ll be honest: the book isn’t always easy reading. Harari mixes philosophy, history, science, and speculation into a blend that can sometimes feel overwhelming. But he’s a sharp thinker, and even when I didn’t fully agree with him, I appreciated being pushed to consider ideas I hadn’t thought about before.
One of the big takeaways for me was the idea that as we become more powerful, we may also become more irrelevant. If algorithms and machines become smarter and more capable than we are—what’s left for us to do? Harari suggests that meaning itself might become harder to hold onto. That’s a haunting thought.
He also talks about the rise of “Dataism”—a belief system where the ultimate value is data and its processing. It sounds strange, but the way things are trending, I could see it. We already trust algorithms to drive cars, pick music, and even diagnose illness. What happens when they start making decisions about life itself?
There’s another chilling point he makes: these god-like technologies won’t be available to everyone. The future may belong to the rich—those who can afford upgrades, life extension, or even a kind of immortality. It’s both fascinating and deeply unfair. Reading Harari definitely made me reflect on what kind of world we’re building, and who gets to shape it.
In the end, Homo Deus didn’t give me hope or despair—but it did leave me thinking, hard. And that’s what I want from a book like this. If you’re curious about the future, and willing to wrestle with some big questions, I think it’s absolutely worth reading.