One of the answers, although the author does not provide it, is gurus, of which we have created a new class, each individually tailored to our needs. And in our globalised world, the idea of a coherent nation-state is threatened. But in the secular west, religion is fading from public life. “How do you live in an age of bewilderment, when the old stories have collapsed, and no new story has yet emerged to replace them?” He contends that collective myths, such as money and laws, have allowed us to build huge, complicated societies far beyond what our biological limitations might suggest is possible. And, of course, there is Harari’s main question, which is here spelled out in a chapter heading. Technological advances bring Big Ethical Questions. Hunter-gathering is a more exciting lifestyle choice than farming, or working in a factory.
Nationalism can be bad, but has its uses. Life in 15th-century China was pretty slow, but now the pace of change feels unstoppable. The essay format plays to Harari’s big selling point: his ability to smash together unexpected ideas into dazzling observationsĪll the classic Harari themes are here. Cheer up! Until you remember climate change, at least – because, to his credit, Harari is one of the few futurists to factor ecological collapse into his predictions. Ivan the Terrible was probably more, well, terrible than Trump. As Obama said, this approach certainly gives the reader perspective. Ultra-topical concerns such as “fake news” and the rise of authoritarians such as Donald Trump are set in the context of centuries of our biological and social evolution. (He does two hours a day, and a month-long retreat every year.) The collection of pieces aims to take stock of where humanity has reached, and where it might be going. It covers everything from war – Harari’s academic specialism – to meditation, his favourite leisure activity. The future-gazing follow-up, Homo Deus, was also a global bestseller, and now Harari has turned his attention to the present with 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. That book was Sapiens, which is bold, breezy and engaging, romping its way from the discovery of fire to the creation of cyborgs in less than 500 pages. Its sales spike when it is mentioned on Love Island. Barack Obama says it gave him perspective on “the core things that have allowed us to build this extraordinary civilization that we take for granted”. Ridley Scott wants to turn it into a TV series.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg includes it in his book club in 2015. Translated into English in 2014, the book sells more than a million copies. An obscure Israeli academic writes a Hebrew-language history of humanity. Yuval Noah Harari’s career is a publishing fairytale.
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