Yuval Noah Harari
Dedication
To my teacher, S. N. Goenka (1924–2013),
who lovingly taught me important things.
Contents
1. Dedication
2.
3. 1 The New Human Agenda
4. PART I Homo Sapiens Conquers the World
1. 2 The Anthropocene
5. PART II Homo Sapiens Gives Meaning to the World
II .I Homo Sapiens Loses Control
1. 8 The Time Bomb in the Laboratory
3. 10 The Ocean of Consciousness
7. Notes
9. Index
10. About the Author
12. Credits
13. Copyright
In vitro fertilisation: mastering creation.
Computer artwork © KTSDESIGN/Science Photo Library.
1
The New Human Agenda
At the dawn of the third millennium, humanity wakes up, stretching its limbs and rubbing its eyes.
Remnants of some awful nightmare are still drifting across its mind. ‘There was something with barbed wire, and huge mushroom clouds. Oh well, it was just a bad dream.’ Going to the bathroom, humanity washes its face, examines its wrinkles in the mirror, makes a cup of coffee and opens the diary. ‘Let’s see what’s on the agenda today.’
For thousands of years the answer to this question remained unchanged. The same three problems preoccupied the people of twentieth-century China, of medieval India and of ancient Egypt. Famine, plague and war were always at the top of the list. For generation after generation humans have prayed to every god, angel and saint, and have invented countless tools, institutions and social systems – but they continued to die in their millions from starvation, epidemics and violence. Many thinkers and prophets concluded that famine, plague and war must be an integral part of God’s cosmic plan or of our imperfect nature, and nothing short of the end of time would free us from them.