21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

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notes

  • Universal base income: gratis geld (kapitalistisch) of gratis diensten (communistisch) is ook een manier om vermogenden te beschermen tegen rebellerende populisten
  • tesla altruist vs tesla egoist
  • collectieve discriminatie VS individuele discriminatie: computer says no zonder dat je metgezellen kan oproepen om te demonstreren

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

2. Work: When you grow up, you might not have a job

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, the job market of 2050 might well be characterised by human–AI cooperation rather than competition.

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At present, billions of parents take care of children, neighbours look after one another, and citizens organise communities, without any of these valuable activities being recognised as jobs.

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what we should worry about even more is the shift in authority from humans to algorithms, which might destroy any remaining faith in the liberal story and open the way to the rise of digital dictatorships.

3. Liberty: Big Data is watching you

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The danger is that if we invest too much in developing AI and too little in developing human consciousness, the very sophisticated artificial intelligence of computers might only serve to empower the natural stupidity of humans.

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If we are not careful, we will end up with downgraded humans misusing upgraded computers to wreak havoc on themselves and on the world.

4. Equality: Those who own the data own the future

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how do you regulate the ownership of data? This may well be the most important political question of our era. If we cannot answer this question soon, our sociopolitical system might collapse.

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In the long run, such a scenario might even de-globalise the world, as the upper caste congregates inside a self-proclaimed ‘civilisation’ and builds walls and moats to separate it from the hordes of ‘barbarians’ outside.

5. Community: Humans have bodies

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During the last century technology has been distancing us from our bodies. We have been losing our ability to pay attention to what we smell and taste. Instead we are absorbed in our smartphones and computers.

6. Civilisation: There is just one civilisation in the world

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The heated argument about the true essence of Islam is simply pointless. Islam has no fixed DNA. Islam is whatever Muslims make of it.9

7. Nationalism: Global problems need global answers

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To have effective politics, we must either de-globalise the ecology, the economy and the march of science – or we must globalise our politics.

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. A person can and should be loyal simultaneously to her family, her neighbourhood, her profession and her nation – why not add humankind and planet Earth to that list? True, when you have multiple loyalties, conflicts are sometimes inevitable. But then who said life was simple? Deal with it.

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When it comes to climate, countries are just not sovereign. They are at the mercy of actions taken by people on the other side of the planet.

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In 2016, despite wars in Syria, Ukraine and several other hot spots, fewer people died from human violence than from obesity, from car accidents, or from suicide.3 This may well have been the greatest political and moral achievement of our times.

8. Religion: God now serves the nation

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scientists gradually learn how to grow better crops and make better medicines, whereas priests and gurus learn only how to make better excuses.

9. Immigration: Some cultures might be better than others

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if 500 million affluent Europeans cannot absorb a few million impoverished refugees, what chances do humans have of overcoming the far deeper conflicts that beset our global civilisation?

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Terrorism is the weapon of a marginal and weak segment of humanity. How did it come to dominate global politics?

10. Terrorism: Don’t panic

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3 So why do we fear terrorism more than sugar, and why do governments lose elections because of sporadic terror attacks but not because of chronic air pollution?