Homo deus: brief history of tomorrow (Debate, 2015) is a book by Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari. It claims to be the continuation of Sapiens: from animals to gods (2011). It is presented as a revolutionary essay on the events that await us based on what is happening today in terms of technology and science.
The advances that human beings have achieved after millennia of evolution have reached a turning point. Homo Deus goes further and focuses on the man of tomorrow and the role that human beings will have in society. Based on incisive analysis, he will launch a message that seems alarming, but that only shows the reflection of the actions of present-day men at a point in which society has been stagnant.
Homo Deus
From homo sapiens to homo deus
Homo Deus It is an essay that predicts the future that men build today. It talks about the point that human beings have reached, converted into a kind of Superman, with a creative and destructive character in equal parts. The natural ambition of Homo sapiens has brought him to the current point where he has managed to change the course of the world and his actions precipitate the demolition of the natural organic balance. Harari analyzes human actions from an unusual perspective that revolutionizes thinking across different disciplines, such as technology, philosophy or history. If in his previous work, Sapiens, took the evolutionary trajectory of the human species from the origins of the Homo sapiens up to the present time, in Homo Deus It ventures into what is already happening and the future that awaits the species which, seen from the author's point of view, is not very promising.
Human beings have been able to transform the traditional evils of humanity into different and paradoxical ones.. The author states, not without reason, that hunger is no longer the ravage of the modern world, but rather obesity. In the same way that wars and even terrorism are not the greatest scourge, but rather suicide. Curiously, the historical dramas of humanity have been turned around. People die because they eat too much or because they can't stand existence itself and decide to end their lives. It also talks about the epidemics that for millennia have undermined the number of inhabitants on Earth. Thanks to the advancement of science, we no longer fear the disease so much, despite the recent pandemic or those that are said to come. However, Harari's perspective is presented from the Western welfare state which, after all, is where the world and society are governed.
The improved humans
Another point discussed in the book is the lengthening of life. In this state of well-being it is possible to live longer and do better. Again thanks to scientific advances. However, Harari's predictions propose, on the one hand, a kind of immortality that will mean leaving death in the background and, on the other hand, the low probability that a growing population will mostly benefit from progress.
Ultimately, What is talked about in the book as a fundamental problem is the stagnation to which man has been subjected and subjects the rest. What is striking about Harari's exposition is that man is equal parts creator and destroyer. However, this has been the case since the world began. Now things reach a turning point in which only some become aware of what is happening, who are those who have the power and resources, the minority. The question that arises Homo Deus It's what's going to happen to the rest.
A new God
In an overpopulated world, a new social class will be born, the "unnecessary" class in which workers will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence that is also already here. Technology is another of the crucial points of the essay, since through it, AI, science or social networks, the future of humanity could be heading towards its dehumanization. To what extent does progress really mean progress?.
Likewise, el Homo sapiens It transforms in homo deus when the revolution of science and technology takes what is genuinely human and transform it into a new species. A better, stronger, even longer-lived one, where the body and the brain are fused with technology and the machine.
New religions will also emerge from the Internet and the empire of information. El Homo sapiens will become extinct to give rise to a new species that will delimit the human character and exclude a good total of the population. Homo Deus It is, therefore, a daring essay with a unique perspective of a future drawn day by day today.
About the Author
Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian born in 1976. He teaches at the University of Jerusalem and specializes in the Middle Ages and military history. He has a strong concern for advances in technique and technology. His published essays deal with the challenges that modern society brings to the present and future of humanity.
His books have had a huge impact worldwide., reaching exorbitant sales figures. Besides They have had a great influence in different areas of society. The most famous is Sapiens: from animals to gods, which he published in 2011. Its sequel is Homo deus: brief history of tomorrow, from 2015. From 2018 it is 21 lessons for the XNUMXst century. In addition to dealing with international leaders, he has formed a platform called Sapienship. With it, he hopes that society can raise in a global way the different present and future problems that are everyone's responsibility.