Here are two new and unusual books by the same author which have become an international phenomenon. They have received rave reviews, such as the following: “… a starburst of a book, as enjoyable as it is stimulating,” “Brilliant. Harari is a master storyteller and an entertainer,” “…will shock you, entertain you, and make you think in ways you had not thought before,” “… shows you where mankind is headed in an absolutely clear-sighted and accessible manner.”
The author is Yuvan Noah Harari, who has a PhD from Oxford University and lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Both are huge, and require attentive reading. The author’s style is gripping, and takes the reader along with increasing interest. Here are the books:
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
(London: Vintage, 2015. 498 pages).
Beginning with a timeline of history, the book has four parts, each dealing with a revolution: The cognitive revolution, the agricultural revolution, the unification of humankind and the Scientific revolution.
It shows how, starting in Africa as an animal of no consequence, homo sapiens not only survived, but came to dominate over other species. Packed with gripping data, the book shows, in nearly five hundred well-argued pages, the role played by knowledge, the importance of myths in uniting large groups of people, the rise of religion, the impact of the scientific revolution—and much more.
A catchy description of human history given on the book’s inside cover gives us a glimpse into the book: “Fire gave us power. Gossip helped us cooperate. Agriculture made us hungry for more. Mythology maintained law and order. Money gave us something we can really trust. Contradictions created culture. Science made us deadly.”
Harari, according to the Sunday Times, “is an intellectual acrobat whose logical leaps have you gasping with admiration.”
Another reviewer explains why Sapiens has become an international bestseller: “It tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language” (Jared Diamond).
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.
(London: Vintage, 2017. 513 books).
The book opens with a look at the three terrible problems that troubled humankind for centuries: famine, disease and war. These were conquered not through religion and myths, but through science and organization of society.
Today’s problems are very different. You are more likely to commit suicide than die in a war. Obesity is a greater problem than famine. Plagues that killed millions in the past are not longer a threat today.
In Part I, Harari explains how Homo Sapiens conquered the world. Part II is about how humans find and give meaning. Humanism played a big role in this, and includes such values as the rights of individuals, freedom, democracy. Part III explains how humans lost control. We are in a new era in the twenty-first history, where machines are often more powerful than humans, and data matter more than people. Today’s quest is for immorality, happiness and divinity.
Harari (not a Christian) finds that Christianity in the past proposed revolutionary ideas—the equality of all human beings, the special dignity of the poor—and pioneered efficient administration and higher education.
“In addition to social and ethical reforms, Christianity was responsible for important economic and technological innovations. The Catholic Church established medieval Europe’s most sophisticated administrative system, and pioneered the use of archives, catalogues, timetables and other techniques ahead of data processing. The Vatican was the closest thing twelfth century Europe had to Silicon Valley” (p. 320).
But, coming to the twentieth century, he finds that the great contributions did not come from traditional religions, but from elsewhere, especially science. He finds religions reactive rather than creative.
Today’s challenges are different from the past. Artificial intelligence is proving to be stronger than human intelligence. Work does not require many humans. To be strong, a country needs better data and organization and an educated elite—not a vast number of workers or soldiers. Many jobs will disappear. Much of what we study in schools will be obsolete very soon. Data seems to matter more than people.
Harari’s books are among the most gripping eye-openers I have read in a long time.
Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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