IN A TECH WORLD
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s new book, released in China, points to the challenges people will face in the future. Wang Kaihao reports.
“The only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives, and to reinvent themselves again and again.” Yuval Noah Harari, author
Before his Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind became a phenomenon around the globe, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari probably did not imagine he would become a celebrity.
His lecture in Beijing last year was as popular as a concert, attracting thousands.
First written in Hebrew in 2011 and later translated into more than 40 languages, the book reviews human history within a framework provided by the natural sciences. It was called the “bible of mankind’s cultural and economic and philosophical evolution” by the (London) Guardian.
The Chinese translation was among the winners of Wenjin Book Award, one of the top book awards in China, in 2015.
“For me, the aim of studying history is to be liberated from it,” Harari, 41, says in an email interview.
“By understanding how history shaped our society and our worldview, we can realize that they are not inevitable, and that we can change them and create a different future.”
The Chinese version of his new book, revealing the threats posed by technology, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, was recently published by China CITIC Press. People may see Harari as someone who has turned from being a historian and a bestselling author to a fortuneteller.
But Harari says he cannot predict the future.
“Today it is more difficult than ever before because of the rapid pace of technological development,” Harari says.
“If you lived in China in 1017, you knew that by 1050 … the Khitans might invade from the north. It was clear to you that even in 1050 most Chinese would still work as farmers, and men would still dominate women,” he further explains.
“Today, we have no idea how China or the rest of the world will look in 2050. We don’t know what people will do for a living. We don’t know what gender relations will be like.
“In the past, humans had the power to change the world outside them. Humans could change the geography by building cities. They could change the economy by inventing the steam engine or by importing potatoes from America to China.
“Ancient wisdom about the basic bodily and mental patterns of human beings remained very relevant for thousands of years.”
Nevertheless, he believes biotechnology and artificial intelligence are making the human body undergo an unprecedented revolution.
He pictures a scenario: Smartphones will not be separate from the human body. They may be embedded in the body via biometric sensors and will monitor heart rates, blood pressure and brain activity 24 hours a day. They will also have the computing power necessary to analyze the endless biometric data and will therefore know human desires, likes and dislikes better than people do.
“People often imagine that some human skills — such as emotional intelligence or artistic creation — will forever remain beyond the reach of AI. But we cannot be certain of that.
“AI is becoming better than many humans in detecting human emotions and in creatingart. The computers will not have any emotions of their own, but they will be able to analyze and manipulate human emotions better than anyone.”
He says humans will thus have “the power to change the world inside them” for the first time.
“Perhaps by 2100, humans and machines might merge so completely that humans might not be able to survive at all if they are disconnected from the network. The dangers are obviously as great as the opportunities.”
He says human roles will change in the future.
“The only way for humans to stay in the game will be to keep learning throughout their lives, and to reinvent themselves again and again.
“If you try to hold on to some stable identity, some stable job, some stable worldview, you will be left behind, and the world will fly by you.”
Harari says he does not want to live in a world of virtual reality created by computer engineers.
“People like virtual realities because they want to have pleasant feelings and exciting experiences,” he says.
“But the basic reaction of the mind to pleasant feelings isn’t satisfaction — it is craving for more.”
That explains why he practices meditation two hours every day to “get in touch with reality”.