Chapter Four - 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

This time I've been reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. 

I wanted to read something that gave some background and meaning (not to mention some positivity) about some of the major problems facing society today. When I switch on the news or listen to the radio and it all seems very bleak out there. Climate change, Brexit, rising knife crime rates in the UK, endless gun crime in the US, Trump. The list goes on. In my previous post, I wrote about The Last by Hanna Jameson (check it out below if you've not already done so!) which is set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear war which decimates most of human civilisation. It sometimes feels like we are edging closer to this becoming a reality - almost by accident in some ways. We've become too complacent about the issues that affect us all and we're on a pathway to self-destruction because too many people don't believe it could ever happen. So, is there anything we can do to stop ourselves from being swallowed by the inevitable maelstrom? Who can point us in the right direction?

Thankfully, 21 Lessons will, in some ways, make you feel much less despairing for the future. But don't be expecting neat global solutions. What I like most about Harari's writing is his ability to clearly explain things and make points in such a way as to make them accessible to virtually any reader. He can make you understand and think about problems or issues in different ways that you might not previously have considered. He makes some bold and - some might say - controversial statements. But he does it in a calm and rational manner. This book is not deliberately provocative in the negative sense. And he litters the book with dozens of jaw-dropping facts and figures that make you pause and reconsider the world. For example, were you aware that the richest 100 people in the world own more than the poorest 4 billion? I found that quite shocking. And then, not so shocking when I thought about it for a bit.

My son is 6 years old so by 2050 he'll be 37 - in the prime of his life. By 2100, he'll be 87. Developments in medicine and our understanding of the human body mean he's likely to still be alive then and I do wonder and worry about what the world will be like. Will we have averted an ecological disaster? It doesn't seem likely at the moment. Will the predicted rise in temperatures and sea levels have wreaked havoc? It doesn't bear thinking about. But, of course, it does bear thinking about - the action needed to avert disaster is clearly not taking place at a fast enough pace. We'll soon reach a tipping point beyond which the damage could be irreversible:

"Unfortunately, as of 2018, instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the global emission rate is still increasing. Humanity has very little time left to wean itself from fossil fuels. We need to enter rehab today...it is not enough that we recognise the danger we face. It is critical that we actually do something about it now."

One specific piece of action we could take is to reduce meat consumption. The impact of the meat industry on the environment is well documented. So, Harari asks, what about 'clean meat'? Could the ability to actually grow meat from cells make an almighty impact on how we affect and alter the environment? Would the masses accept meat that was grown in this way? What if we all ate less meat as part of our diet or became vegetarians or vegans? Statistics apparently show that 15,000 litres of water are required to produce just one kilogram of beef. To produce the equivalent weight in potatoes requires only 287 litres. That's quite a compelling set of data when you stop and think about it, isn't it?

Don't be put off just yet - it's not all doom and gloom. The book opens up some fascinating discussions about topics that are on the horizon. Such as the rise of Artificial Intelligence or AI. I don't about you, but when I think of the future, images of people on Marty McFly style hoverboards spring to mind. Jet packs. Moon bases. We've all seen films like I, Robot, Terminator, Bladerunner and Ex Machina. Things tend to go bad pretty quickly and the machines, inevitably, turn on the people. We often hear how AI is going to make so many jobs obsolete; swathes of people will find themselves redundant. We will come to rely more and more on machines to do the jobs a human has, up until now, been required to do. We can already see this mechanisation starting to happening around us all the time - at the supermarket checkout, at the Amazon warehouse and even at the hospital. The benefit AI can often bring is the lack of human error. There's a great section in 21 Lessons which suggests that AI might eventually replace the GP to the huge benefit of everyone. If all 'AI GPs' were linked to the same medical information then everyone would potentially have access to the very latest treatments and medicines. Patients might be less likely to be misdiagnosed or have a problem missed entirely. 

Might we all also benefit from driver-less cars that are all connected and able to 'talk' to each other? Imagine how many accidents could be avoided. What if the network failed or if someone hacked the system, though? It's certainly an interesting topic and the possibilities are endless for how AI could improve our lives and make positive changes. Harari even suggests that, rather than leading to widespread unemployment, the introduction of AI could actually increase employment as humans are required to oversee the actions of the AI doing the jobs they used to do.

There are other thought-provoking sections on war and terrorism. I thought putting terrorism into perspective was helpful. It is, of course, something designed to strike terror into our hearts and minds. That's how it gets its name. But it helps to remember that terrorism is designed to spread fear rather than cause widespread harm and damage. The book says that:

"Since 11 September 2001, every year terrorists have killed about fifty people in the European Union, about ten in the USA, about seven people in China and up to 25,000 globally (mostly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria). In contrast, each year traffic accidents kill about 80,000 Europeans, 40,000 Americans, 270,000 Chinese and 1.25 million people altogether. Diabetes and high sugar levels kill up to 3.5 million people annually, while air pollution kills about 7 million people."

Maybe we need those robo-GPs and autonomous cars sooner than we thought? Next time I'm feeling a bit uneasy on the underground, I will try and remember these figures. In terms of war, it's probably no surprise to find that Harari feels that we should 'never underestimate human stupidity' and with the likes of Trump in power, and growing tensions across the world, we should all be more concerned about the prospects of global conflict than we were, say, ten or twenty years ago. We have to hope he is right in saying that the spoils of war are different now. And this makes waging war less successful - and therefore less attractive -  in the 21st century:

"...corporations such as Apple, Facebook and Google are worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but you cannot seize these fortunes by force. There are no silicon mines in Silicon Valley."

I really, really enjoyed this book. It is incredibly readable and not at all dry. Harari writes as if you are down the pub with him putting the world to rights. I had a similar reaction to his earlier books Sapien and Homo Deus, both of which would also make excellent further reading choices. It's not a criticism, but I do find he concentrates a great deal on religion throughout his books. I'm not a religious person and so I find this element of his books speaks less to me but that's merely down to who I am and what is important to me.

Reading this week's post over, and looking at where the Never-ending Book Story is currently leading me, it all seems to be getting quite deep and meaningful. Quite heavy! I need things to lighten up a little, wouldn't you agree? Is a perfect world achievable? Can we reach utopia? I was looking at my ever-growing, slight-anxiety-enducing TBR pile and I came across Arcadia by Iain Pears which has been sitting there for some time and has never quite made it to the top of the heap. Arcadia, you may know, means a countryside idyll. A perfect, pastoral oneness with nature. I'm not sure if that's what we get to in the novel. It's a story of parallel worlds and interlocking stories. A lighter tone perhaps achieved, then. Join me for chapter five very soon and we'll find out!

In the meantime, as ever, please feel free to subscribe to my blog if you like my rambling reviews. That way you won't miss out on a new post. Find and follow me on Twitter (@blogneverending) and Instagram (@neverendingbookstory), too, if you like. It would be nice to see you there. Also, do let me know your thoughts on 21 Lessons if you've read it. If you haven't, I hope this post has made you want to give it a try. I'm sure you would find it an interesting and worthwhile read.