21 Lessons for the 21st Century

by Yuval Noah Harari

Overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In Sapiens, he explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked to our future. Now, one of the most innovative thinkers on the planet turns to the present to make sense of today’s most pressing issues.

“Fascinating . . . a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the twenty-first century.”—Bill Gates, The New York Times Book Review

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FINANCIAL TIMES AND PAMELA PAUL, KQED 

How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human? How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? Are nations and religions still relevant? What should we teach our children?

Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today’s most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.

In twenty-one accessible chapters that are both provocative and profound, Harari builds on the ideas explored in his previous books, untangling political, technological, social, and existential issues and offering advice on how to prepare for a very different future from the world we now live in: How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? How should we deal with the threat of terrorism? Why is liberal democracy in crisis?

Harari’s unique ability to make sense of where we have come from and where we are going has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. Here he invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world full of noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged with irrelevant information, clarity is power. Presenting complex contemporary challenges clearly and accessibly, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is essential reading.

“If there were such a thing as a required instruction manual for politicians and thought leaders, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century would deserve serious consideration. In this collection of provocative essays, Harari . . . tackles a daunting array of issues, endeavoring to answer a persistent question: ‘What is happening in the world today, and what is the deep meaning of these events?’”—BookPage (top pick)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525512172
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	85,655
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Yuval Noah Harari has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Oxford and now lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specializing in world history. His two previous books, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, have become global bestsellers, with more than fifteen million copies sold and translations in more than fifty languages.

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Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

Part I The Technological Challenge

1 Disillusionment: The End of History Has Been Postponed 3

2 Work: When You Grow Up, You Might Not Have a Job 19

3 Liberty: Big Data Is Watching You 44

4 Equality: Those Who Own the Data Own the Future 73

Part II The Political Challenge

5 Community: Humans Have Bodies 85

6 Civilization: There Is Just One Civilization in the World 93

7 Nationalism: Global Problems Need Global Answers 110

8 Religion: God Now Serves the Nation 127

9 Immigration: Some Cultures Might Be Better than Others 140

Part III Despair And Hope

10 Terrorism: Don't Panic 161

11 War: Never Underestimate Human Stupidity 173

12 Humility: You Are Not the Center of the World 184

13 God: Don't Take the Name of God in Vain 200

14 Secularism: Acknowledge Your Shadow 207

Part IV Truth

15 Ignorance: You Know Less than You Think 221

16 Justice: Our Sense ofJustice Might Be Out of Date 228

17 Post-Truth: Some Fake News Lasts Forever 236

18 Science Fiction: The Future Is Not What You See in the Movies 250

Part V Resilience

19 Education: Change Is the Only Constant 263

20 Meaning: Life Is Not a Story 273

21 Meditation: Just Observe 314

Acknowledgments 325

Notes 329

Index 357

Editorial Reviews

In his fascinating new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the historian Yuval Noah Harari…mostly resists handy prescriptions. He's more interested in defining the terms of the discussion and giving you historical and philosophical perspective…Harari is such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking…he has teed up a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the 21st century.

The New York Times Book Review - Bill Gates

★ 06/25/2018
Magnificently combining historical, scientific, political, and philosophical perspectives, Harari (Sapiens and Homo Deus), a Hebrew University of Jerusalem history professor, explores 21 of what he considers to be today’s “greatest challenges.” Despite the title’s reference to “lessons,” his tone is not prescriptive but exploratory, seeking to provoke debate without offering definitive solutions. An early chapter is headlined with the lesson, “When You Grow Up, You Might Not Have a Job.” Not only will many jobs be lost to machines, but, Harari speculates, humans might not even be necessary to fulfill the role of consumers: “Theoretically, you can have an economy in which a mining corporation produces and sells iron to a robotics corporation, and the robotics corporation produces and sells robots to the mining corporation.” A chapter beginning with the lesson “Those Who Own the Data Own the Future” discusses how the improved human understanding of mind and brain, and the ability to manipulate both, raises the threat of control by those with access to one’s data, making the regulation of data ownership perhaps “the most important political question of our era.” Within this broad construct, Harari discusses many pressing issues, including problems associated with liberal democracy, nationalism, immigration, and religion. This well-informed and searching book is one to be savored and widely discussed. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2018-06-27
A highly instructive exploration of "current affairs and…the immediate future of human societies."Having produced an international bestseller about human origins (Sapiens, 2015, etc.) and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny (Homo Deus, 2017), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today's myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. As the author emphasizes, "humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better. Every person, group, and nation has its own tales and myths." Three grand stories once predicted the future. World War II eliminated the fascist story but stimulated communism for a few decades until its collapse. The liberal story—think democracy, free markets, and globalism—reigned supreme for a decade until the 20th-century nasties—dictators, populists, and nationalists—came back in style. They promote jingoism over international cooperation, vilify the opposition, demonize immigrants and rival nations, and then win elections. "A bit like the Soviet elites in the 1980s," writes Harari, "liberals don't understand how history deviates from its preordained course, and they lack an alternative prism through which to interpret reality." The author certainly understands, and in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly "post-truth" world is headed. Human ingenuity, which enables us to control the outside world, may soon re-engineer our insides, extend life, and guide our thoughts. Science-fiction movies get the future wrong, if only because they have happy endings. Most readers will find Harari's narrative deliciously reasonable, including his explanation of the stories (not actually true but rational) of those who elect dictators, populists, and nationalists. His remedies for wildly disruptive technology (biotech, infotech) and its consequences (climate change, mass unemployment) ring true, provided nations act with more good sense than they have shown throughout history.Harari delivers yet another tour de force.

Kirkus Reviews

The human mind wants to worry. This is not necessarily a bad thing—after all, if a bear is stalking you, worrying about it may well save your life. Although most of us don’t need to lose too much sleep over bears these days, modern life does present plenty of other reasons for concern: terrorism, climate change, the rise of A.I., encroachments on our privacy, even the apparent decline of international cooperation. In his fascinating new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the historian Yuval Noah Harari creates a useful framework for confronting these fears. While his previous best sellers, Sapiens and Homo Deus, covered the past and future respectively, his new book is all about the present. The trick for putting an end to our anxieties, he suggests, is not to stop worrying. It’s to know which things to worry about, and how much to worry about them. . . . Harari is such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking. . . . [Harari] has teed up a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the twenty-first century.”—Bill Gates, The New York Times Book Review

“If there were such a thing as a required instruction manual for politicians and thought leaders, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century would deserve serious consideration. In this collection of provocative essays, Harari, author of the critically praised Sapiens and Homo Deus, tackles a daunting array of issues, endeavoring to answer a persistent question: ‘What is happening in the world today, and what is the deep meaning of these events?’ . . . Harari makes a passionate argument for reshaping our educational systems and replacing our current emphasis on quickly outdated substantive knowledge with the ‘four Cs’—critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. . . . Thoughtful readers will find 21 Lessons for the 21st Century to be a mind-expanding experience.”—BookPage (top pick)

“A sobering and tough-minded perspective on bewildering new vistas.”—Booklist (starred review) 

“Magnificently combining historical, scientific, political, and philosophical perspectives, Harari . . . explores twenty-one of what he considers to be today’s ‘greatest challenges.’ Despite the title’s reference to ‘lessons,’ his tone is not prescriptive but exploratory, seeking to provoke debate without offering definitive solutions. . . . Within this broad construct, Harari discusses many pressing issues, including problems associated with liberal democracy, nationalism, immigration, and religion. This well-informed and searching book is one to be savored and widely discussed.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A highly instructive exploration of ‘current affairs and . . . the immediate future of human societies.’ Having produced an international bestseller about human origins and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny, Harari proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today’s myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. . . . [In] twenty-one painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly ‘post-truth’ world is headed. Human ingenuity, which enables us to control the outside world, may soon re-engineer our insides, extend life, and guide our thoughts. Science-fiction movies get the future wrong, if only because they have happy endings. Most readers will find Harari’s narrative deliciously reasonable, including his explanation of the stories (not actually true but rational) of those who elect dictators, populists, and nationalists. His remedies for wildly disruptive technology (biotech, infotech) and its consequences (climate change, mass unemployment) ring true, provided nations act with more good sense than they have shown throughout history. Harari delivers yet another tour de force.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the Publisher

09/01/2018
Having achieved worldwide success canvasing humanity's past and future, Harari (world history, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem.; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind) now turns his insightful gaze to the problems of the present day. In this timely, lucid volume, Harari tackles major global challenges from the conquest of the algorithm and the impending loss of free will to our quest to find political and intellectual stability in a posttruth world. Along the way, the author eschews any bold claim-making in the way of solutions, instead focusing on defining the most pertinent questions humanity faces today. Many of these questions involve the educational and economic response to automation, the political ramifications of the forces of nationalism in the face of immigration, and the continued push of Enlightenment against the imposing wall of ignorance and superstition. However, reiterating previous prognostications for the conquest of liberalism, Harari questions current political arrangements to solve the issues at hand and in our immediate future. VERDICT Readers of Harari's previous works will find this volume uniquely engaging in its application of those larger contours of history and future to contemporary society. Highly recommended for general readers and academics alike.—Brian Odom, Madison, AL

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