Homo Deus: A brief history of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Humans have controlled and tamed animals in the past and soon they will be able to control humans. They will be able to control and manipulate the causes of ill health and death to prolong life. Humans will learn and build sufficient technology to eliminate all unhappiness, sadness and be able to control the violence in people.

These are some of the arguments put forth in the book. Not everyone will agree to the points raised in the book. Many of the theories propounded will be unacceptable to any religious person and will definitely rub the orthodox the wrong way.

While some of the theories seem plausible and are being made possible even as I write and as you read this, others will continue to seem fanciful till it is realised. Another dilemma that the reader should encounter is will all of this be ethical? And what would be the "new ethical" if it happens?

Today with justification from religion humans control animals. They are bred to be milked and worse to be eaten. Pigs are made pregnant, forced to stay in small cages and the piglets (more so the male ones) are fattened to be slaughtered for satisfying the palette of the humans. Cows are bred and given injections to produce much more milk than they naturally do. They are confined to small spaces, their calves are taken away from them. The male ones are either slaughtered immediately and the females are put into similar situation as their mothers. They cows are impregnated at the earliest possible to time to keep the milk flowing. None of this is considered unethical, because it is believed that animals do not have feelings and are meant to be controlled by humans.

As an example we have Professor Leif Andersson of the Uppsala university specializing in genetic enhancement of animals to increase meat in animals and chicken and more milk in cows. When confronted with the question "Will it cause suffering to animals?" (Cows are already burdened with extra heavy udders, upgraded chickens cannot ever standup), Andersson answered "Everything comes back to the individual customer and to the question how much the customer is willing to pay for meat ... we must remember that it would be impossible to maintain current levels of global meat consumption without the (enhanced) modern chickens ... if the customers ask for the cheapest possible meat that is what they will get. Customers need to decide what is most important to them - price or something else." The statement sounds callous, but it has a ring of truth to it. If the people did not clamor for more meat and more cheaper meat the Mr. Andersson would not be doing what he is doing.

Two questions stand out
1. Do the scientists educate the masses about the consequences of what they are doing?
2. Are the masses ignoring this and still continuing to ask for more despite knowing the truth?

On the same grounds why ban drugs? There are many humans asking for drugs. Why not give them access to it? After all they are have the money to pay for it and most of them know the consequences. Like liquor and cigarettes why not legalize drugs?

The book highlights how by scanning the electromagnetic waves from the brain the scientists are able to predict if a person is going to touch a button with her right or left hand. It is argued that this prediction happens before the human is aware if they are going to use their right or left hand. This seems to be a fallacious argument. Is it not likely that the electromagnetic wave was triggered due to the thought of the person to use her right or left hand? As long as one does not know what exactly is thought one cannot conclude anything. Yes it is a proven fact that when a certain set of electromagnetic waves are observed the action of the individual can be predicted and by inducing the same electromagnetic waves they can be made to perform the same action. This is controlling the body, but can thoughts be controlled? In another section the author says that there have been experiments where the veterans have been administered electromagnetic waves to make them forget their traumatic experiences which make their life miserable. Does that mean that the thoughts of this person have been controlled? Difficult to answer one way or the other.

All in all a thought provoking book.

Today technology lets the scientists trigger electromagnetic waves in the human brain to trigger emotional feelings in humans. The scientists can trigger happiness, sadness, anger. They can wipe out negative thoughts and fear just by manipulating the electrical signals triggered in the brain. They will soon be able to manipulate the genes to create custom humans who will be immune to known diseases, who will be consistently clever, smart, good looking and possible "good natured". Given this the one's controlling can do many more things. Things that will benefit them and not possibly the individual who is being manipulated. A fearless person will be ready to run into a raging fire and save the valuables for the one controlling him or her. Their genes may be manipulated so that they do not feel pain due to the burns. Will it be ethical to do something like that? Will we regress into some form of slavery?

There are many such points discussed and raised in the book.

Some parts that set me thinking

Countries established gigantic systems of education, health, welfare, but all were aimed to strengthen the nation rather than ensure individual well-being. I feel this is very true.

Original educational institutes existed to create disburse knowledge and create knowledgeable people. Later marks (precise marks) were introduced to measure success. Now everybody only clamors for marks and knowledge takes a back seat.

People seem to be expecting the scientists to perform a miracle and stop the ecological degradation threatening the human and other lives caused by economic growth. Even if done will it help all. The elite will anyway have an escape hatch by way of building hermetic enclosures with sophisticated air purification and water generation leaving the poor to face the negative consequences. This is already seen in parts. While the rich sit in their Air Conditioned offices and homes the poor are out in the smog suffering from all sorts of diseases for which they are incapable of paying for the cure. In Beijing the International School has built a dome to cover the tennis court for the children to play, while the other schools close due to pollution. And where will the other children play? The point is who cares? The apathy towards others is pervades the human psyche.

At point it is argued that leaders succeed because the masses do not cooperate on a wider scale. A politician succeeds because there is lack of cooperation among the masses.



Some quotes
"Happiness depends on expectations rather than on objective conditions".
"Corporations and nations are our imaginations, we invented them to serve us; how come we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in their service"
"Fiction and imaginations are required for society to function, but it should not supersede reality".

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