Book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari

Spiegel & Grau, 2018 
Also available in: German
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8 Qualities

 Controversial
 Well Structured
 Hot Topic
Curious about 21 Lessons for the 21st Century? Read our review below. While we’re
awaiting the copyright holder’s go-ahead to summarize this book in our usual summary
format, we hope you’ll find our review just as helpful.

Review
Historian, philosopher and social critic Yuval Noah Harari ranks among
influential global gurus thanks to his bestsellers Sapiens and Homo Deus. The first
addressed humanity’s past; the second, its future. Here, Harari discusses the pressing
issues of the present. His insights on climate change, artificial intelligence (AI), nuclear
war and other issues are sharp and illuminating. Inevitably, though, original thoughts
and inspired ideas mix with repeats from his earlier works and a few banalities.
Harari calls out the dangers of dogmatism, including religious fundamentalism, and is
dismissive of religion in general. Leaders in politics, business and education should
know his books, especially this one. While his urgent warnings are bleak, he also
suggests solutions as he provides a frightening summary of the existential threats facing
humankind and a compelling call to immediate action. If you are unfamiliar with his
insightful analysis, this is a great place to start.

The State of the World

Yuval Noah Harari understands that you have so much to do that you probably can’t
find time to learn about and act on the grave dangers threatening your future. But you,
he insists, and your children can’t avoid the consequences. Harari's 21 lessons, or
warnings, address problems mainly within the liberal democratic system – which he
says is the best-designed system ever founded to organize society. His lessons argue for
its improvement, not its replacement:

1. “Disillusionment” – Harari maintains that the 20th century saw four broad

movements: imperialism, fascism, communism and liberal democracy. After horrific
struggles, the latter prevailed. The 2008 financial crisis gave rise to alienation. Concern
about the future led to votes for populists like US president Donald Trump and tribal
movements like the anti-European Union Brexit decision. 

2. “Work” – No one knows if artificial intelligence (AI) will destroy or create jobs. AI
combined with biotech differs from industrial machinery and computers. For the first
time, Harari says, technology will improve on the mind. Human intuition relies on
pattern recognition. Emotions arise from predictable neurochemical reactions, not from
your mysterious soul. Algorithms can improve intuition and emotion; AI will enhance
work performance. Those lacking advanced cognitive or creative skills or the ability to
provide specialized services might lose their jobs by the billions in a decade or two.
Unless governments deliberately block AI and biotech, Harari believes the coming
change will eclipse anything in history. Plan for a post-work world featuring basic
economic security for all and meaningful pursuits outside of work.

3. “Liberty” – Liberty is the basis for liberalism – free will, individual rights and the

vote. But people make decisions based on feelings, not thought. Algorithms combined
with biotech will soon decipher your emotions better and more consistently than your
brain can. Then machines will know you better than you know yourself. Crude
algorithms analyze you now as you use the web and watch TV. In the future,
sophisticated, ubiquitous sensors and algorithms might detect all your quirks and
preferences. As you rely more on AI to make your decisions – as you do with your GPS
– your senses and skills will atrophy. Harari asserts that you’ll rely more on machines
for what to study, for your work and even for deciding whom to marry.  Algorithms start
with the best human expertise and then learn massively and constantly from other
algorithms. Self-driving cars will save millions of lives, but similar technology will power
robot armies. Humans must get better at thinking for themselves, Harari warns, or
liberty will disappear and disaster will ensue. 

4. “Equality” – The world’s 100 wealthiest people now own more than the world’s
least wealthy four billion. As access to embedded biotech grows more feasible and data
ownership concentrates among the few, so does the prospect of a class of superhumans.
Harari describes how rich people can afford expensive mind and body
enhancements; poor people can’t. This portends a tiny elite lording over an enormous
underclass. In the past, the rich needed the poor as workers or soldiers. The future,
Harari fears, might render the poor redundant.

5. “Community” – As the digital world consumes more of people’s time, the bonds of

community, family and friends will deteriorate. Harari maintains that many of the
current world problems originate from the loss of community. CEO Mark
Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will address this problem by bringing like-minded
people together online, in part by using AI to match them. Yet even if online
communities work, they can’t address loneliness and separation. People need to come
together physically. Harari urges you to put down your devices to see and sense what’s
around you and to connect with people nearby.

6. “Civilization” – Multiple civilizations no longer exist – just one single civilization

that includes everyone. This is among Harari's more radical assertions. Leaders incite
people by pretending groups have ancient traditions and values that define and set them
apart. None really do. Whether Islam, Judaism or Christianity, people change constantly
and choose what they are in the moment. Today’s fundamentalists, for example, may
claim to follow original values and laws from ancient scriptures, but Harari says they
never come close. Nations and peoples basically follow the same practical topics –
economics, health, science, infrastructure. People can and must come together as one
civilization to address humanity’s enormous challenges.

7. “Nationalism” – Though deeply social, humans don’t take naturally to the

relatively recent construct of nations. You easily bond with groups of people you know,
but not with millions you’ve never met. Nations evolved to solve issues that tribes and
families couldn’t. Taken too far, Harari says, national chauvinism leads to feelings of
superiority and entitlement, which have led to world wars. Such a war today would
mean almost certain death for everyone. Leaders have, until recently, tried to suppress
nationalism. Global cooperation, not isolation, is the only hope. Harari calls for a
new global order to solve problems that nations can’t handle on their own.
8. “Religion” – People used to turn to the clergy for guidance on matters of
consequence. Today, whether atheist or fundamentalist, Harari says you are more likely
to turn to science. Some leaders invent or foment religious myths to further their goals,
notably by rallying desperate people around a common identity to stoke nationalism and
hatred. Yet religion offers no solution to the world’s big problems – only fuel for the fire.
Practice it if you need comfort, but keep it to yourself.

9. “Immigration” – Harari urges nations to find a balance between those who’d ban

immigration almost entirely and those who’d allow it almost indiscriminately. Few
openly oppose immigration based on their own bigotry. Many argue that cultural
differences make certain immigrants incompatible. Racism gains ground when people
use cultural and value differences to label individuals or set a high bar for assimilation.
If equitable standards for immigration between countries fail, Harari holds little hope
remains for global cooperation.

10. “Terrorism” – Harari reminds you that terrorists kill almost no one compared to
death by cars, drugs or obesity, yet terrorism occupies an inordinate amount of
discourse and headspace. Leaders play into terrorists’ hands by overreacting with
childish shows of force. The media exaggerate the dangers, furthering terrorist agendas.
You may aid them, too, Harari says, by letting your fears overwhelm you. Terrorists may
change everything by acquiring weapons of mass destruction, but people can’t afford to
focus attention on that possibility – nor on the relatively minor problem of terrorism in
general.

11. “War” – Modern wars cost enormous treasure and offer small or even negative
returns to winners. More states now possess the ability to destroy or inflict unacceptable
damage on any aggressor. Even weaker nations can wreak havoc through cyberattacks.
War should have run its course by now, Harari believes. Unfortunately, he says,
stupidity prevails, so war – including nuclear annihilation – remains a distinct
possibility.

12. “Humility” – Almost every nation suffers from a grossly exaggerated perception of

its importance. Jews and Christians often suppose they introduced basic concepts of
fairness and morality to a lawless world and take pride in
having introduced monotheism. Yet history prior to Judaism and Christianity is replete
with laws and moral codes, and monotheism has proven a horrific invention. Harari
believes peoples and religions should look at themselves objectively and from other
peoples' perspectives to gain the humility the world needs to avoid catastrophe.

13. “God” – Whatever may have created the universe doesn’t care what humans call it,
Harari says, – nor does it care whether women wear tight shorts or men marry men. He
urges you not to use God as your excuse to hate, battle or exclude others. Don’t think
you have to believe in a religious myth to act morally; rats, monkeys and other social
mammals have moral codes. Religion can temper some people’s rage and hostility, but it
stokes fury in at least as many others.

14. “Secularism” – Those who accommodate all religions – whether or not they
practice one – and who believe in evidence, truth, openness to ideas, compassion for all
beings, and their own and humankind’s accountability often describe themselves as
secular. These people and societies tend to behave better and lead more peaceful lives.
Yet when secularism becomes a religion, it sometimes produces monsters
like Josef Stalin. More insidiously, it enables environmental degradation and unchecked
automation. Harari suggests that you practice a pure and critical secularism free of
dogma or blind faith.

15. “Ignorance” –  Though liberalism and democracy put faith in your ability to make
good decisions, Harari maintains that science demonstrates that most of people’s
choices and decisions spring from their emotions, mental shortcuts and
groupthink. More or better information on issues such as climate change doesn’t inspire
deeper thinking because people more or less adopt their groups’ beliefs wholesale. The
acquisition of true knowledge takes time and experimentation. Harari believes you
should embrace knowing that you know very little.  

16. “Justice” – When you see or feel the effects of unfairness directly, you might act.
When you can’t see or feel the effects, such as your indirect support of child labor or
animal cruelty, your response grows more complex. Your investments, your purchases
and your diet rely on convoluted supply chains and myriad transactions that you
can’t track. So you either pretend at innocence defended by ignorance, or you subscribe
to a doctrine – liberal, conservative, Hindu, Christian – and follow it where it takes
you. Either way, Harari suggests, you face an equally unappealing and dangerous path.

17. “Post truth” – With Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald
Trump, it may seem like you live in a new era of lies and fake news. In fact, Harari says,
falsehood has always been with us. Humans tell stories and create myths. Their lies bind
people together for good deeds and bad. You won’t find pure truth among humans, but
you should seek it for yourself. Accept the complex, ambiguous nature of the world, and
do what you can to separate the degrees of truth. Look for solid information sources, pay
for them, and – when it matters to you – research and read deeply on a topic, as Harari
has clearly done.

18. “Science fiction” – Relatively few people read scientific articles and books, but
many enjoy science fiction shows and movies. Unfortunately, artists often depict the
nature of humans inaccurately. In the film The Matrix, for example, the protagonist
searches in vain for his “authentic self.” In truth, Harari says, you possess a predictable
neurochemical algorithm, not a true self. You can’t exist outside the matrix, he
maintains, because you comprise it; you can’t escape from yourself.

19. “Education” – Complete uncertainty about what life and work will entail in 2050
or 2100 means that parents – perhaps for the first time in history – have no idea how to
equip their children for adult life. Students, Harari believes, don’t need more
information; they need to learn how to assess and synthesize it. Everyone in the future
will probably need greater abilities to collaborate and create. Above all, they will need to
know how to change. Harari regards self-initiated learning based on deep self-
awareness as critical for young people in the early 21st century.
20. “Meaning” – Don’t seek your purpose in serving religion, ideology, dogma or
nation. Don’t bank on finding meaning by leaving a legacy of children, books or works of
any sort; everything will go extinct. Don’t seek meaning in the humanist myth of free
will. Harari reminds you that you don’t control the inner workings of your body or your
brain. If you prefer men as sexual partners, for example, you can’t decide to prefer
women. Find meaning in serving others and through acts of kindness and love. Live in
reality, not within a story or a fantasy.

21. “Meditation” – Meditation helps you explore your personal reality and

to comprehend your mind and how it works, Harari says. He urges you to get familiar
with your mind, and take time to reflect on what matters to you. With algorithms and AI
looming, opportunities to get to know yourself might be short-lived.

Hard-Nose Philosophy

You might describe Harari as a non-bitter realist. He strives not only to see the world
and human processes clearly, but also to understand how his – and your – emotional
and mental processes might blind him – and you – to apparent facts. In the face of that
blindness, Harari utilizes a tough-love prose style to state what may be unpopular truths
simply and plainly. His very words suggest – as do his sentences – that you better
toughen up to cope with the world as it is today and as it will be tomorrow. Yet, at the
same time, Harari urges contemplation, meditation, doing good works, vesting in
kindness and recognizing your own hypocrisy. So he believes both in a dangerous world
a'coming and in the human capacity to transcend its limitations, despite thousands of
years of evidence to the contrary. In other words, Harari refuses to take any set or
idiomatic position regarding a monstrously complex universe. He eloquently urges you
to follow his example.

About the Author

Yuval Noah Harari, PhD, bestselling author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, teaches
world history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lives on a communal farm near
Jerusalem.