Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

by Yuval Noah Harari

Our future economy, society and politics will be shaped by the attempt to overcome death.

oblivious

vehemently

dustbin

leisurely

seldom

Movements seeking to change the world often begin by rewriting history, thereby enabling people to reimagine the future.

They aim not to perpetuate the past, but rather to be liberated from it.

toppled

liturgy.

bequeathed

This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.

geriatric

i.e.

archetype

creed,

Anthropocene

Instead of fearing asteroids, we should fear ourselves.

marsupials,

Large animals were the main victims because they were relatively few, and they bred slowly.

animists:

Semitic

While animists saw humans as just another kind of animal, the Bible argues that humans are a unique creation, and any attempt to acknowledge the animal within us denies God’s power and authority.

The advent of farming produced new waves of mass extinctions, but more importantly, it created a completely new life form on earth: domesticated animals.

Alas,

Hélas

boars

redundant

The animals suffer greatly, yet they live on and multiply.

sows

Professor Stanley Curtis of the Pennsylvania State University trained two pigs – named Hamlet and Omelette – to control a special joystick with their snouts, and found that the pigs soon rivalled primates in learning and playing simple computer games.14

a need shaped thousands of generations ago continues to be felt subjectively even if it is no longer necessary for survival and reproduction in the present.

Rather, emotions are biochemical algorithms that are vital for the survival and reproduction of all mammals.

An algorithm is a methodical set of steps that can be used to make calculations, resolve problems and reach decisions.

baboon

droop,

egotistical

mammals can’t live on food alone.

theist

bellowing

bleating

God gave an eternal soul only to humans.

mere extras.

fig

The gods safeguarded and multiplied farm production, and in exchange humans had to share the produce with the gods.

Non-human organisms have no intrinsic value, and exist solely for our sake.

Scientists will upgrade us into gods.

Would it be okay, for example, for an artificial intelligence to exploit humans and even kill them to further its own needs and desires? If it should never be allowed to do that, despite its superior intelligence and power, why is it ethical for humans to exploit and kill pigs?

might

evanescent

Scientists have subjected Homo sapiens to tens of thousands of bizarre experiments, and looked into every nook in our hearts and every cranny in our brains. But they have so far discovered no magical spark. There is zero scientific evidence that in contrast to pigs, Sapiens have souls.