Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout.NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.Over the past century humankind has … and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.
Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to accept, but, as Harari explains in his trademark style—thorough, yet riveting—famine, plague and war have been transformed from incomprehensible and uncontrollable forces of nature into manageable challenges. For the first time ever, more people die from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals put together. The average American is a thousand times more likely to die from binging at McDonalds than from being blown up by Al Qaeda.
What then will replace famine, plague, and war at the top of the human agenda? As the self-made gods of planet earth, what destinies will we set ourselves, and which quests will we undertake? Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century—from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we go from here? And how will we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers? This is the next stage of evolution. This is Homo Deus.
With the same insight and clarity that made Sapiens an international hit and a New York Times bestseller, Harari maps out our future.
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This book should be retitled “The Red Pill,” because like Neo in the Matrix, once you swallow what Yuval has to say, there’s no going back. HOMO DEUS is both profound, and profoundly upsetting at once. A word of caution, If you make it through the book, you might find yourself left sinking in a pool nihilistic emotional quicksand. I don’t know how else to describe the feeling, but that’s what happens when an author as brilliant as Harari undermines all our Western paradigms and carefully curated philosophies only to abruptly walk away without tossing his readers a lifeline. Read HOMO DEUS it at your own risk… Honestly, I wish I’d taken the blue pill
I prefer “Sapiens” and this covers some of the same material, but Harari is a thought-provoking writer about what it means to be human with a style that a layperson can easily follow
Homo Deus is a non-fiction analysis of human history taking us from the point where man needed gods to explain happenings beyond our control to the present, where humanism believes there is no god and into the near future, where man is creating God. Fascinating and well told.
Recommended for readers of popular nonfiction, this work explores the broad history and trajectory of mankind. The first 3/4 covers basic world history in a compulsively readable format but it is only the last quarter of the book that discusses “a brief history of tomorrow,” despite the book’s title. A timely book, the last section explores how our world might respond to such hot topics as refugees and antibiotic resistance. However, this is not a work for futurists looking for a glimpse of future tech- a world of self driving cars, the Internet of Things, humanoid robots, space travel etc are all overlooked. This book is best for those interested in the history of mankind and how philosophies, religion, and historical contexts will influence how we respond to current pressures, NOT for futurists looking for a prediction of which technologies will dominate and change in the coming centuries.
Don’t be scared of the future: this book gives you some hints what is coming next and teases your mind to think and be prepared.
Thoughtful work, well worth reading. Interesting combination of history, science, sociology, technology and speculation about the future of our species. Professor Harari’s strength is his ability to weave the past with the accelerating present and create a forecast about where he thinks we are going. Not all believable, but worth considering.
Extremely readable book which provides logical explanations for the underpinnings of the distopian future the SF novels and movies have been portraying for a long time. A world where mankind would potentially be split into a genetically modified and AI enhanced masterclass who rules, and an underclass who lack all of those privileges. The fact that Harari does not provide an antidote makes the book all the more chilling.
A well written book about the history of Earth and mankind, as well as a look into the future.
Such an epic analysis of how humanity has used religion, science, and technology to conquer the world and make meaning of it. I especially enjoyed the idea of intersubjective realities and how powerful fiction and story is.
Excellent book – better than Sapiens imo. Makes you think of possibilities that you had not though of before. Highly recommend.
History of humans with illustrative relevance to present day affairs of humans
This books tears apart our assumptions on what it means to be human. We maybe the dominant lifeform on the planet, but for how long. Our creations are starting to perform better than us in almost measure. How long before we are no longer necessary to our creations?
Thought-provoking at the minimum.
The book was thought-provoking. It provided a long view of human history and human aspiration.
Powerful!!! Incredible story of who we were, who we are, and who we might be.
Wonderful insights into what may become of mankind in the future. And a great followup to the author’s book Sapiens.
Yuval is a true visionary. A seeker bringing truth to light.
Homo Deus…Deus meaning GOD.
What is the future of mankind?
To elevate ourselves to gods?
To become immortal?
There is much more in this book than the lofty goals of synthetic bio-engineers and scientists.
A truly good read!
It is the story of we human beings and how we got to where we are with respect to religion, nationality, society, culture and even the food we eat. A fascinating read. So good I bought it and have read it three times. Definitely scary in that our total lives are really myths, and we (stupidly) believe them, and have for millennia.
The author is incredibly bright.
Powerful book for those wanting to better understand the world at large and where it might be headed.