The underlying rationale for his prediction is that human consciousness-including emotions, intuitions, and feelings-is nothing more than a series of algorithms, which could all theoretically be deciphered and predicted by a computer program. One of Harari’s most striking prophecies is that artificial intelligence will come to replace even the most creative human endeavors, and ultimately be capable of controlling every aspect of human cognition. By recognizing them as the myths they actually are, he could potentially transform his own ability to help shape humanity’s future. Like the traditional religious dogmas that he mocks, his own implicit stories wield great influence over the global power elite as long as they remain unacknowledged. Given his enormous sway as a public intellectual, Harari risks causing considerable harm by perpetuating these fictions. However, apparently unwittingly, Harari himself perpetuates unacknowledged fictions that he relies on as foundations for his own version of reality. In critiquing the current vogue topic of “fake news,” Harari piercingly observes that this is nothing new, but has been around for millennia in the form of organized religion. Many of these fictions, he rightly points out, underlie the concepts that organize society, such as the value of the US dollar or the authority of nation states.
Harari is fêted at the World Economic Forum and many other watering holes of the global eliteĪ galvanizing theme of Harari’s writing is that humans are driven by shared, frequently unacknowledged fictions. His fans include Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, he’s admired by opinion shapers as diverse as Sam Harris and Russell Brand, and he’s fêted at the IMF and World Economic Forum. His first two blockbusters, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, have sold 12 million copies globally, and his new book, 21 Lessons for the 21 st Century, is on bestseller lists everywhere. When Yuval Noah Harari speaks, the world listens.
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In this article, I urge Harari to recognize his own implicit stories, and by doing so, step up to his full potential role in helping shape humanity’s future. However, his own unacknowledged fictions perpetuate dangerous myths. Yuval Harari’s writings explode many fictions on which modern civilization is based.