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All 16 learnings · one per slide
Homo
Deus
Yuval Noah Harari, in bytes
16 key learnings on humanity's possible future: immortality, happiness and godlike powers.
16 learnings · ~40 sec eachSwipe →
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Homo Deus, in bytes
16 key learnings from Yuval Noah Harari's look at where humanity may head after conquering famine, plague and war. Each takes about 40 seconds to read. Swipe, use the arrows, or your keyboard.
Homo
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Learning 1
The New Human Agenda
The idea
Harari argues that for the first time, famine, plague and war are largely manageable problems.
Example
More people now die from obesity than from starvation.
Takeaway
With old problems shrinking, humanity will seek new goals.
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Learning 2
Immortality, Bliss, Divinity
The idea
Harari predicts humanity will pursue overcoming death, lasting happiness and godlike powers.
Example
Tech companies investing in life extension.
Worth noting
These are possibilities, not certainties.
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Learning 3
The Knowledge Paradox
The idea
Predictions can change the future they describe, as people react to them.
Example
Marx's predictions prompted capitalists to reform.
Takeaway
History isn't fixed.
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Learning 4
The Lawn
The story
Harari traces lawns from aristocratic estates to suburban gardens.
The lesson
Many things we see as natural are historical inventions.
Takeaway
History frees us to imagine alternatives.
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Learning 5
Humans and Animals
The idea
Harari examines how humans treat animals, especially in industrial farming.
Example
Pigs and cows with complex emotions in harsh conditions.
Takeaway
Our dominance raises moral questions.
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Learning 6
Intersubjective Realities
The idea
Shared stories like money, nations and companies exist because many people believe in them.
Example
A banknote has value because we all agree it does.
Takeaway
Stories power cooperation.
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Learning 7
Humanism as Religion
The idea
Modern societies worship human feelings: 'listen to yourself' replaced 'listen to God'.
Example
Voters, customers and artists all follow their feelings.
Takeaway
Humanism is today's dominant creed.
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Learning 8
Three Humanisms
The idea
Harari distinguishes liberal, socialist and evolutionary humanism.
Example
Liberal humanism won the 20th century.
Takeaway
Humanism has rival branches.
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Learning 9
Do We Have Free Will?
The idea
Neuroscience suggests choices come from biochemical processes, challenging the idea of free will.
Example
Scientists steering rats with brain electrodes.
Worth noting
This remains a debated philosophical question.
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Learning 10
Two Selves
The idea
We have an experiencing self and a narrating self that tells stories about our lives.
Example
In a Kahneman study, people preferred a longer painful cold-water trial that ended slightly less painfully.
Takeaway
Our story about experience can override experience.
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Learning 11
Organisms Are Algorithms
The idea
Life sciences increasingly see organisms as biochemical algorithms.
Example
Emotions as calculations for survival.
Takeaway
If so, external algorithms could understand us.
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Learning 12
Intelligence Without Consciousness
The idea
Intelligence is decoupling from consciousness: machines can perform tasks without feelings.
Example
Algorithms outperforming doctors at some diagnoses.
Takeaway
Many jobs may be automated.
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Learning 13
The Useless Class
The idea
Harari warns automation could create a large class of people without economic value.
Example
AI doing jobs from driving to analysis.
Takeaway
Societies must plan for this.
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Learning 14
Algorithms Know Us
The idea
Algorithms may soon know us better than we know ourselves.
Example
Recommendations based on data about our behaviour.
Takeaway
Authority may shift from humans to algorithms.
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Learning 15
Dataism
The idea
A new ideology, Dataism, sees the universe as data flows and values everything by its contribution to data processing.
Example
Sharing experiences online to give them meaning.
Takeaway
A possible successor to humanism.
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Learning 16
Questions to Ask
The idea
Harari ends with questions: are organisms just algorithms? What's more valuable, intelligence or consciousness? What happens when algorithms know us better?
Why
He offers possibilities, not prophecies.
Reflect
Which future do you want to help create?
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All 16 learnings complete
That’s all 16 learnings.
Harari asks what we'll want once old problems are solved. What should humanity aim for next?
Abhay Kumar JaiswalFCA · PMP® · Workday Financeabhayjaiswal.com
Summaries in my own words. Read the book for the full stories.
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Summaries are written in my own words for learning. Read Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (2015) for the full stories. More Books in Bytes