Homo Deus translates to “God Man.” It is also a book by Yuval Noah Harari, a historian who received his PhD from Oxford and is currently teaching in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In Homo Deus, Dr. Harari describes the great strides humanity can and might make in the 21st century with our armory of knowledge and technology.
Homo Deus begins on a positive note - deaths due to diseases, war, and famine have gone down considerably. That is, “For the first time in history, more people die today from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists, and criminals combined” (2). Humankind has gone a long way in just a few centuries when it comes to preventing entirely preventable deaths, and that is something it can be proud of. Dr. Harari discusses the factors which have tormented and challenged humanity’s innovation for many years, beginning with famine. While everyone knows what it is like to be hungry, they are completely oblivious to the curse of famine. Famine involves a prolonged period of time in which little to nothing is consumed, where one’s next meal is completely vulnerable to chance. Today that lot has improved - although large hordes of people still starve to death every single day, and hundreds of millions go hungry, food isn’t a concern for most people. For instance. Dr. Harari remarks that social security in developed countries prevents starvation. Dr. Harari also notes that in 2014 more than 2.1 billion individuals were overweight, while 850 million suffered from inadequate food - “Half of humankind is expected to be overweight by 2030” (6).
Harari then discusses disease, another major scourge of humanity. For most of humanity’s history, disease was seen as a supernatural force or punishment sent by the gods, and humans were at an utter lack to understand its causes. In the last few centuries, however, major developments were made in the field of medicine, with many previously lethal diseases being treatable with the right medicine. In contrast, humanity faced many devastating plagues in the course of its history. One of the most infamous, the Black Death, has been shown by medieval artists as being a demonic force, and it is believed to have claimed the lives of one third of Europe, decimating entire villages and cities. Even further back, when the Justinian Plague struck Rome, millions lost their lives with Romans at a complete lack of understanding as to how to make things better. Even just ,a few centuries ago, during the Columbian Exchange in America, most Native Americans died once they came into contact with Europeans, as they had no genetic defence towards diseases like measles and smallpox. In the current age, however, disease has become much more treatable.
Next, Dr. Harari discusses how humans will conquer death. Death, acknowledged by Dr. Harari, is commonly viewed as something outside human control. This concept is best personified with the idea of a Grim Reaper who claims the lives of people once their allotted time has passed. Dr. Harari states that “Humans always die to some technical glitch,” such as heart failure, cancer, the breakdown of various organs, strokes, and other issues (23). Dr. Harari then gives a call to action, stating that waiting for a miraculous religious situation to occur is not the solution, but extensive research. That is, death can be conquered once the technical situation of the body is understood. For instance, cancer cells can be wiped out with chemotherapy, and germs in the lungs can be effectively dealt with with antibiotics. Dr. Harari then hypothesizes that as medicine improves over the years, the diseases we can treat and the lives we can prolong will expand in scope, until eventually death itself can be treated. Dr. Harari does admit, though, that before death itself can be treated, life expectancy should be increased substantially to begin with, which is reasonable. For instance, Dr. Harari notes that in 1900 the average life expectancy was only 40 due to infectious diseases, wars, and other factors, while today it is above 70 in developed countries.
Dr. Harari then describes humanity’s relationship to happiness in the 21st century. Dr. Harari begins with the influential Greek philosopher Epicurus, stating that Epicurus “warned his disciples that it is hard work to be happy” and that “a deep friendship will make us more content than a frenzied orgy” (33). Dr. Harari then elaborates on Epicurus, stating that while Epicurus was very accurate in many things, a major reason for mankind’s unhappiness and discontent is because of our biological anatomy - in order to make humans happier, we need to rewire our biology to increase our tendencies towards positive feelings like joy and contentment. As Dr. Harari states, “This is all the fault of evolution. For countless generations our biochemical system adapted to increasing our chances of survival and reproduction, not our happiness. The biochemical system rewards actions conducive to survival and reproduction with pleasant stations … But nice tastes and blissful orgasms don’t last very long” (37). To fix this issue, Dr. Harari mandates “It will be necessary to change our biochemistry and re-engineer our bodies and minds” (43).
Dr. Harari describes humanity’s developments when it comes to the planet in the second part of the book, titled “Homo Sapiens Conquers the World.” In this section, Dr. Harari describes our effects on the world around us, like nature. Dr. Harari provides an illuminating graph - when it comes to the biomass of large animals, humans make up 300 million tons, domesticated animals 700 million tons, and wild large animals 100 million tons (72). Of course, domesticated animals make up such a large amount of the total biomass of Earth because we bred them in mass numbers for the sole sake of slaughter. As described later on, “the Agricultural Revolution gave humans the power to ensure the survival and reproduction of domesticated animals while ignoring their subjective needs” (83). Dr. Harari soon discusses mankind’s delusion that it is somehow “superior” to other animals. For instance, he discusses Charles Darwin’s massive impact on science, and how most Americans, as of 2012, refused to accept Darwin’s accurate views on natural selection - only 12% of Americans believed that humans evolved from natural selection with no divine intervention (103). Dr. Harari effectively tackles the issue by stating that large numbers of people, afraid for their egos and comfort, “prefer to reject the theory of evolution rather than give up their souls” (106). Dr. Harari soon discusses the human brain and mind, as well as what “consciousness” can be defined as. He even discusses how chemicals affect the behaviors of laboratory rats, as seen in an effective picture on page 124 - a rat that has a chemical which is linked to hope struggles much more to escape a glass of water than a rat which lacks the chemical, which clearly illustrates how behavior is linked to chemicals and hormones. Dr. Harari then moves on to discuss how animals are more intelligent at times than what humans would give them credit for, as seen with “Clever Hans.” “Clever Hans” was a horse who rose to fame in the early 1900s due to its knowledge of the German language and mathematics. For instance, one onlooker asked Hans what’s 4 times 3, and Hans correctly hit his hoof on the ground 12 times. When another onlooker asked Hans what’s 20 - 11, Hans hit his hoof on the ground 9 times. Many people marveled at the genius of this horse until a psychologist, Oskar Pfungst, discovered the answer to Hans’s intelligence in 1907 - Hans would watch the expression and posture of the human asking him the question whilst tapping his hoof, and once the human’s tension reached a maximum, “He then stopped tapping, and watched how tension was replaced by amazement or laughter” (130).
In Part 2 of Homo Deus, “Homo Sapiens Gives Meaning to the World,” Dr. Harari discusses the rise of humanism. Dr. Harari classifies humanism in five images. To summarize, the five types of humanism are humanist policies, humanist economics, humanist aesthetics, humanist ethics, and humanist education. In humanist politics, the voters are believed to have sufficient knowledge and intelligence to make a reasonable choice regarding political candidates and certain policies - the two types of government that involve humanist politics are democracies and republics. When it comes to humanist economics, people view the customer as being knowledgeable about their situation and what is good for them, hence the popular phrase “The customer is always right.” In humanist aesthetics, people’s differing views of beauty are recognized as holding legitimacy. This is encapsulated very well in certain works of art that are quite bizarre to most people, which include a urinal and a toilet. When it comes to humanist ethics, it is believed that things shouldn’t be avoided just because they’re untraditional. That is, if something follows John Stuart Mill’s principle of utilitarianism (pleasure is generated with little to no pain), then that action should be undertaken. When it comes to humanist education, people are encouraged to pursue topics which genuinely interest them, which also includes the freedom to choose a job that may interest you, not one that is imposed on you by the past or an institution.
Another key aspect of humanism is that of the common man, which is encapsulated very well in the concept of war. For thousands of years, war was portrayed as a glorious event, sanctioned by god, divine entities, and just motives. For thousands of years, the enemy was portrayed as being evil brutes, while those on the “right” side were virtuous heroes. For instance, in Pieter Snayers The Battle of White Mountain, the painter wanted to show how the Catholic victors were in the right while the Protestant heretics were in the wrong. The painting is observed from “the Olympian vantage point of gods and kings, and gives us the impression that war is a giant chess game,” though it does have many snippets of smaller details, such as “a cannonball smashing a soldier to bits, we understand it as part of the great Catholic victory. If the soldier is fighting on the Protestant side, his death is a just reward for rebellion and heresy” (245). As shown in the quote above, in many incidences sympathy and compassion were utterly devoid for the other side due to the follies of fanaticism and rabid nationalism. However, this changed after awhile, as war was no longer viewed as a glorious event or purely tactitional play, but as something that should be experienced in all its horror. This led to war being widely recognized as brutal and stupid, as seen in the painting The War by Otto Dix. In The War by Otto Dix, we recognize mangled, bloody corpses torn apart, hanging in awkward poses with various holes and mutilations. We even see a decaying corpse in tattered white clothing hanging from the remains of a house. In the distance we see the ruins of a once prosperous village, and the remnants of a forest can also be derived. Amid the mountain of carnage there is a soldier wearing a gas mask, and it can be inferred that the expression beneath it is terrible. Thus, Dr. Harari discusses the humanistic developments of the modern era.
In Part 3, “Homo Sapiens Loses Control,” Dr. Harari discusses AI (artificial intelligence) and how technology will affect the human species as a whole. To begin, war can be expected to be waged by machines, not humans, as seen in a pilotless drone versus an image of trench warfare in WWI. Furthermore, AI can definitely replace many human functions and aspects of human society, as seen with how AI systems can beat humans at most information-oriented tasks, such as playing Jeopardy, diagnosing diseases, and playing chess. Another concern with the future is that of the “useless class,” an economic class of people who are obsolete. Dr. Harari remarks that “Most of what they [the kids] currently learn at school will probably be irrelevant by the time they are forty” (331). While this prediction does seem outlandish, it does have its merits - technology’s pace is increasing so exponentially that people, by the time they learn how to do something “worthwhile,” will have to learn something else, for the something has already been solved by advanced technology. Dr. Harari states that it is possible a large portion of humanity will no longer be needed, and since more than enough is being produced, the adage “bread and circuses” will be undertaken again, though this will obviously damage claims which hold stock in the idea of “the sanctity of life,” for on page 331, “What’s so sacred about useless bums who pass their days devouring artificial experiences in La La Land?” Dr. Harari then describes how it is very plausible that there will soon be upgraded “super-humans” with better genetics, longer lifespans, better physical and sexual abilities, and intelligence. He states that this, if pursued, will cause major issues, for the poor, for most of history, have comforted themselves with the idea of death being the great equalizer. If it is possible for genetically advanced super-humans to be immune to old age and many diseases, the “great equalizer” has basically disappeared, which will cause extreme resentment among the poor. Dr. Harari also states that this resentment is inevitable, for people compare themselves with those who are alive, not those who are dead. For instance, if you tell a worker in America in 2070 that their healthcare has greatly improved since 2020, but is still far below the rich, they are likely to remain dissatisfied, for they know that the wealthy, in a sense, aren’t entitled to better healthcare than them, at least to begin with. Dr. Harari also believes that there will eventually be a data religion, “Dataism,” which seeks to analyze the wiring of every organism and to understand them better than they understand themselves. Search engines like Google and Amazon can become sovereigns in their own right, where there is no predicting what they might do to the human race once they reach that organizational and analytical status. To end on a relevant note, Dr. Harari states that “The rise of AI and biotechnology will certainly transform the world, but it does not mandate a single deterministic outcome. All the scenarios outlined in this book should be understood as possibilities rather than prophecies” (401).
Personal thoughts:
In my opinion, Homo Deus is worthwhile to read. Although there have been some negative reviews on the basis that the book is too speculative, it should be remembered that no one knows the future, so Dr. Harari shouldn’t receive negative reviews for some of his more bizarre and radical predictions. Furthermore, it should be remembered that in many instances in history, history unfolded quite differently than what the mass perceived would happen. For instance, after WWII, many were afraid of a third world war and a possible nuclear holocaust. However, not only did such things never happen (so far), but wars as a whole have decreased greatly in frequency, the strength of diplomacy has increased, and technology led to the benefit of almost everyone on the planet. When it comes to technology, technology’s progress is so volatile and unexpected - no one expected the Internet, after all - that it’s virtually impossible to predict what technology will have in store for humanity in the decades, centuries, or millenia to come. I personally appreciate that Dr. Harari took the time to compare the future and present to the past, which shows how far humanity came when it comes to diagnosing and treating our various ills. To reiterate, we have dealt with on a highly successful scale certain diseases, famine, war, and human rights abuses. Although they still obviously exist, they are no longer the large threat they have been, and the overall projection for the future is positive, as detailed by Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature. Homo Deus is a good book to read for those speculating about the future and those interested in humanity’s past, for it discusses both.
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