Yuval Noah Harari: 'There is a battle for the soul of the Israeli nation'

Summary

Yuval Noah Harari, historian and author, discusses his latest children's book series 'Unstoppable Us,' aimed at explaining history to children during uncertain times. Harari reflects on how current societal and technological changes make it difficult for adults to guide younger generations. He explores historical contexts behind fear, pandemics, and warfare, stressing the role of choice in human conflicts. Harari emphasizes the importance of resilience and emotional intelligence to cope with rapid change, while also discussing pressing global issues, such as military budgets, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the challenges of peace-building.

Takeaways

• 📚 The latest book series by Yal focuses on educating children about history to help them navigate an uncertain future.
• 🧠 Adults today are not good guides for the future because they don't know how the world will look in 10 or 20 years due to rapid changes.
• 🦁 Children's fears, like monsters under the bed, stem from historical memories of real dangers like predators from ancient times.
• 🦠 Pandemics began after the Agricultural Revolution when humans started living in crowded villages with animals, creating a breeding ground for germs.
• ⚔️ Wars are not inevitable or part of human nature; they often stem from imagined stories or ideologies, not necessities like food or territory.
• 🕊️ Despite historical narratives of conflict, such as between Israelis and Palestinians, change is possible, and humans can break vicious cycles of war.
• 📉 Over time, military spending has decreased in many countries, replaced by investments in healthcare and education, though this trend is now reversing.
• 🇮🇱 In Israel, there is a battle for the soul of the nation, balancing between patriotism and dangerous ideas of Jewish supremacy.
• 🎯 The elimination of Hamas' military capabilities is seen as necessary, but eliminating the ideology behind it is unrealistic.
• 💡 The future job market and social structures are highly unpredictable due to AI and other technologies, so emotional intelligence and adaptability will be key skills for future generations.

Q & A

Why did the author feel it was important to write for children at this moment in history?

The author felt it was important to write for children because, for the first time, adults are not reliable guides for the future. With the rapid pace of change and uncertainty about what the world will look like when today's children become adults, history is a valuable tool to help children understand the world.

How does history help children understand their fears, according to the author?

The author explains that many fears, such as a child's fear of monsters under the bed, stem from historical memories. These fears were once linked to real dangers, like wild animals that threatened human survival. Understanding the historical roots of these emotions can help children make sense of their fears.

What is the author's perspective on the cause of wars in human history?

The author argues that most wars are not caused by fights over food or territory but by imagined stories and ideologies. These narratives, such as religious or nationalistic stories, drive people to fight, even when resources are not the issue.

Why does the author believe wars are not inevitable?

The author believes that wars are human choices and not driven by natural forces, like wolves or chimpanzees fighting for territory. Wars are largely influenced by the stories people tell themselves, and this means they are avoidable if humans change their narratives.

What historical evidence does the author give to show that war is a relatively recent phenomenon?

The author mentions that the first archaeological evidence of warfare is from about 13,000 years ago in the Nile Valley. Before that, there is no evidence of warfare, suggesting it is not an innate or ancient part of human behavior.

How does the author use state budgets to measure the level of violence in the world?

The author points out that historically, most state budgets were dedicated to military spending. However, in the early 21st century, military spending worldwide dropped to about 7%, while health care spending rose to 10%, indicating a shift away from prioritizing violence. This trend, however, is now reversing as military budgets increase again.

What does the author suggest is the key to understanding the current war between Israel and Hamas?

The author emphasizes that understanding the political aims behind the war is crucial. Wars are a continuation of politics, and without knowing the goals of the conflict, it is difficult to evaluate the outcomes or understand the motivations of those involved.

What is the author's greatest concern regarding Israel?

The author is most concerned about the internal battle for the soul of the Israeli nation, specifically between patriotism and the rise of Jewish supremacy. This struggle threatens the foundational principles of the secular nationalism that built Israel.

Why does the author believe eliminating Hamas is unrealistic?

The author believes that eliminating Hamas completely is unrealistic because it is a political movement and ideology. The more practical goal would be to eliminate its military capabilities, but a long-term solution requires offering Palestinians a better future to counter Hamas' influence.

What does the author suggest is the most important skill for future generations?

The author believes that emotional intelligence and psychological resilience are the most important skills for future generations. Given the rapid pace of change in the world, individuals will need to continually reinvent themselves and adapt throughout their lives.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Writing for Children Amid Uncertainty

The speaker discusses their children's book series 'Unstoppable Us,' aimed at explaining the world to children during a time of unprecedented uncertainty. They emphasize how, for the first time in history, adults do not have a clear vision of what the future holds, making history a key tool in helping children understand complex issues like fear, wars, and pandemics. The speaker highlights how understanding historical context is crucial for navigating present and future challenges.

05:02

🌀 The Imaginary Causes of Wars

Wars, the speaker explains, are often driven by stories humans create rather than by material needs like food or territory. Using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example, the speaker asserts that the struggle over the Holy Rock in Jerusalem is more about imagined narratives tied to religion than about resources. They question whether humanity is doomed to repeat the same conflicts or if there's hope for change, noting that human choices, not inevitabilities, drive warfare.

10:03

💸 Military Spending and the Vicious Cycle of War

The speaker draws attention to military budgets as a key measure of societal priorities, showing how military spending has declined globally since the 20th century but is now rising again. They describe the vicious cycle where countries, fearing threats, increase military spending, prompting others to do the same, which may lead to a return to global militarization. They contrast this with the more positive cycle of reducing military budgets to focus on health and education, creating a better quality of life.

15:04

⚔️ The Political Aims of War

The speaker highlights the importance of understanding the political aims behind wars, using the U.S. invasion of Iraq as an example of how military victories can lead to unintended political outcomes. They emphasize the need for clear objectives, noting that Israel’s current conflict with Hamas raises questions about long-term political goals. Without these goals, military actions risk becoming misguided and ultimately counterproductive.

20:06

⚖️ Justice vs. Peace in Conflict Resolution

The speaker reflects on how both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have vastly different views of justice due to their unique historical narratives. They argue that a focus on peace, rather than justice, offers a more practical way forward. Despite decades of failed peace efforts, the speaker believes the only option is to keep trying, as the alternative is perpetual conflict.

🇮🇱 The Soul of Israel: Patriotism vs. Supremacy

The speaker expresses concern for the internal struggle within Israel between patriotism and Jewish supremacy. They argue that patriotism should be about embracing the uniqueness of a nation while respecting others, whereas supremacy places one's nation above others, leading to dangerous ideologies. The speaker views this internal conflict as a greater threat to Israel than external enemies.

🎯 The Unrealistic Goal of Eliminating Hamas

The speaker discusses the goal of eliminating Hamas, suggesting that while it’s unrealistic to entirely eliminate the group, reducing its military capabilities is a more achievable objective. They caution that unless Palestinians are offered a better future, eliminating Hamas could lead to the rise of something even worse. The conflict between Israel and Hamas is framed as a broader struggle over the future of the region.

🔀 The Political Maze of War

The speaker stresses the importance of having a clear vision for the future when waging war. They criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to articulate long-term political goals, noting that without a clear plan, wars risk becoming endless. They compare political conflicts to mazes, where understanding the desired end goal is key to finding a solution.

🤖 The Uncertainty of the Future: AI and Rapid Change

The speaker reflects on the unprecedented uncertainty of the future, driven largely by technological advances like AI. They note that even basic advice from older generations no longer applies in a world changing so rapidly. In this environment, emotional intelligence and psychological resilience are essential skills for future generations, who will need to constantly adapt to new realities.

💡 Preparing Future Generations for Rapid Change

The speaker concludes with advice for future generations, emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence and adaptability. They warn that the rapid pace of change in the 21st century will require individuals to continually reinvent themselves, creating psychological stress. Governments should invest in mental health infrastructure to help people cope with the pressures of constant change.

Keywords

💡Unstoppable Us

Unstoppable Us is a children's book series written by the speaker, intended to help young readers understand the world through a historical lens. The series emphasizes learning from the past to navigate the present and future, especially at a time when adults may not fully grasp the future's uncertainties. The book series includes stories about human history, exploring concepts like fear and survival in ways that resonate with children.

💡Historical Memory

Historical memory refers to how humans carry certain fears or instincts rooted in ancestral experiences. For example, the fear of monsters at night among children is traced to ancient survival instincts against predators. This concept helps explain how historical experiences continue to influence modern behavior, illustrating the speaker's idea of history as a tool for understanding current fears and emotions.

💡Pandemics and Agricultural Revolution

Pandemics are widespread infectious diseases, which, according to the speaker, became prevalent only after the Agricultural Revolution. The transition from hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled farming communities created conditions favorable for the spread of disease, as humans lived close to domesticated animals and in larger groups. This historical insight was presented as an example of how changes in human behavior have shaped the types of challenges societies face.

💡Human Choice in Warfare

Human choice in warfare refers to the notion that war is not an inevitable outcome but a choice influenced by cultural narratives and beliefs. Contrary to theories that war is an inherent part of human nature or a struggle over resources, the speaker suggests wars are often driven by ideologies and historical narratives. This idea is illustrated by the Israel-Palestine conflict, where territorial disputes are tied to religious and cultural narratives rather than material needs.

💡Justice vs. Peace

The speaker contrasts the concepts of justice and peace in conflict resolution. While justice involves subjective interpretations based on different historical narratives, peace is viewed as an objective goal where loss of life can be minimized. This framework is applied to the Israel-Palestine conflict, where differing definitions of justice complicate finding a peaceful resolution, suggesting a focus on peace might lead to more constructive outcomes.

💡Military Expenditure and Social Priorities

Military expenditure relates to the allocation of national budgets toward defense versus social services. The speaker points out a historical trend of high military spending, which, in recent decades, has decreased relative to healthcare, exemplifying a shift in priorities. However, rising military budgets signal a potential return to conflict-driven spending, posing a challenge to social development and stability.

💡Iranian Hegemony

Iranian hegemony refers to Iran's growing influence in the Middle East, particularly following the Iraq War, which destabilized the region. The speaker suggests that Iran’s regional dominance is a key factor in the ongoing conflicts involving Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah, highlighting the far-reaching consequences of power vacuums created by historical military conflicts.

💡Patriotism vs. Supremacy

Patriotism vs. supremacy addresses the distinction between national pride and a belief in national superiority. Patriotism allows for a positive, respectful identity that acknowledges other nations’ worth, whereas supremacy imposes one nation’s rights above others. In Israel, a struggle between these forces is said to affect the nation's soul, with concerns about a shift from constructive patriotism to divisive superiority.

💡Psychological Resilience

Psychological resilience is defined as the ability to adapt to rapid changes, which the speaker argues is essential in the face of an uncertain future shaped by advancements like artificial intelligence (AI). As traditional career and lifestyle advice becomes outdated, resilience is necessary to cope with ongoing reinvention and learning. This concept underscores the speaker’s suggestion that education should focus on emotional intelligence to prepare children for future challenges.

💡Ideological Conflict

Ideological conflict refers to disputes rooted in belief systems rather than material interests. The speaker uses Hamas as an example of an organization with ideological goals that oppose peace initiatives, arguing that militarily defeating such groups does not resolve the underlying beliefs. This idea raises questions about the effectiveness of military solutions in addressing ideologically driven conflicts.

Highlights

The book 'Unstoppable Us' is focused on explaining history to children to help them understand the world at a crucial moment in history.

For the first time, adults are not reliable guides for the future as nobody knows what the world will look like in 10 or 20 years.

History helps children understand even their most basic emotions, such as the fear of monsters under the bed.

Pandemics were not common throughout most of human history but started with the Agricultural Revolution when people began living in large, crowded villages.

Wars are not inevitable and are mostly driven by imagined stories in people's minds rather than objective necessities like food or territory.

One of the big challenges is to break the cycle of war, where countries feel forced to increase military budgets due to perceived threats.

There's been a major change in state budgets over time, where spending on health care now surpasses military expenditure in many countries.

The Israel-Palestinian conflict is not about food or land but about deeply embedded historical narratives and religious significance.

History shows that wars can be won militarily but lost politically, as seen in the American invasion of Iraq, where Iran emerged as the real winner.

There is a battle for the soul of Israel between patriotism and ideas of Jewish supremacy.

Peace should be prioritized over the concept of justice, as justice is subjective, but peace can be objectively measured by whether people are dying.

The war between Israel and Hamas is partly driven by the fear of peace treaties that could normalize relations between Israel and Arab nations.

The elimination of Hamas’s military capabilities is necessary, but what comes next is equally important — offering Palestinians a better future.

The uncertainty of the future is profound due to AI and other rapid technological changes, making it difficult to know what skills children will need.

Emotional intelligence and psychological resilience will be the most important skills for the future as rapid change becomes the norm.

Governments need to invest more in mental health infrastructure to help people cope with the increasing psychological stress of constant change.

Transcripts

yal your latest book is focused on

children it's a children's series that's

going to be coming out yeah Unstoppable

us just tell us why at this point you

felt it was so important to write for

children to

Children you know the basic idea is to

explain the world to Children especially

at at this crucial moment in history

when for the first time adults are not

really good guides for the future of of

these kids I mean we for the first time

we have no idea how the world would look

like when the children of today are

themselves grown-ups nobody knows what

the job market what the economy what

Society would look like in 10 or 20

years and to deal with the unknown

history is always an important key so um

you know it starts with your your most

basic em emotions like you're a kid you

wake up in the middle of the night

afraid that there is a monster under the

bed this is actually a historical memory

from hundreds of thousands of years ago

when there were indeed monsters that

came to eat children in the middle of

the night lions and cheetah and things

like that and if you woke up in fear and

called your mom you could be saved if

you kept sleeping you were eaten so to

even understand something as basic as as

that um it's helpful for children to

know our history

and certainly when it comes to the big

questions of politics and economics why

are there so many wars in the world um

so it's a historical question where do

Wars come from where do pandemics come

from for instance it it was very I think

insightful to know during the covid

pandemic that pandemics were not a

constant feature of human history they

began only with the Agricultural

Revolution hunter gatherers in the Stone

Age did not suffer from pandemics they

moved around in very small bands even if

somebody got sick and infected like five

other people you could not have a

pandemic it started with the

Agricultural Revolution when lots of

people and farm animals goats chickens

live together in crowded Villages which

people built these first Villages and

towns supposed to be like paradise for

humans it turned out this is Paradise

for

germs and it's it's the same with Wars

you know people sometimes think that war

is like part of human nature actually

the first clear evidence in the

archaeological record for Warfare

between people is only from about 13,000

years ago 13 13 13,000 years ago from

the Nile Valley we have no

archaeological evidence for Warfare

before that moment why do we keep doing

it then what Warfare yeah I mean if we

if it is a phenomenon as you say you

know history is a long time it's only

when you think about it as a historian

13,000 years ago for you is not that

long it's not that long no and yet we to

this day I mean if you look at the state

of the world it continues to happen and

it is a tool that people use first

before talking first before dialogue or

diplomacy um as the Stan I think the

most important thing to realize is a

human Choice Wars are never inevitable

among humans some people think that

humans fight for the same reason that

wolves and chimpanzees fight that we

fight over food and territory and this

is just part of the objective nature of

things and this is almost never the case

most wars in history are not really

about food or territory they they are

about the stories that we imagine in our

own minds and I look at the war between

Israelis and Palestinians for instance

there is objectively speaking there is

enough land between the Mediterranean

and the Jordan River to build houses and

schools and hospitals for everyone there

is enough food to feed everybody people

don't really fight about food they fight

about the imaginary stories in their

heads and they can't find a common story

and you know religion plays a very

important part in it like you have the

Holy Rock in Jerusalem Under the Dome of

the of the Rock and both Jews and

Muslims says God gave this holy Rock to

us you know Palestinian philosopher

sarin NBA wrote a few years ago that

Jews and Muslims armed with nuclear

weapons are about to wage one of the

biggest massacres of human beings ever

over a rock this is not an objective

necessity you don't really have to fight

over this rock you fight over it because

in your mind it becomes something far

more important than food or territory or

or even your life and yet here we are

today generation after generation

fighting the same struggle especially in

the context of this conflict that's the

big question are we condemned to repeat

the same tragedy over and over over

again with just different Decor every

time or do we have some choice about it

and as a historian I believe in the

possibility of change history is change

things do change you look for instance

at um you know for me one of the best

measures of the level of violence in the

world is State budgets because budgets

are very you know downto Earth cold you

it's not like poetry it's where does the

money go for most of History in most

polies kingdoms Empires city states at

least 50% of the state budget went to

the

military if you look at the big Wars of

the 20th century in the first world war

average military expenditure in the UK

was 50% of the government budget by the

second world war it was 70% of the

budget went to the military in the early

21st century the average expenditure on

the military throughout the world taking

all countries together went down to

7% whereas Health Care was about

10% um it's amazing I mean we take it

for granted many people say in the UK

that the healthc care budget is bigger

than the military budget but this has

been a remarkable

achievement uh proving the ability to

change human behavior and it's now in

danger we now see military budgets all

over the world skyrocketing again well

is that about power and control control

because you want to be the most powerful

state with the biggest military with the

biggest Force because even here there's

criticism around that why military

budget is is low why isn't it being

increased we are being told that if we

were to go to war with Russia for

example in a decade or so we would lose

as a as a state because the military

isn't being invested in so you have two

types of of of kind of magical circles

happening you can have a vicious circle

that Russia increases its military

budget and invades Ukraine so European

nations obviously feel obliged to

increase their budget then more Nations

feel threatened they also increase their

budgets and everybody increased their

budgets until we return to a situation

where everywhere around the world looks

like Russia which already before the war

in Ukraine Putin in in preparation for

The Invasion Putin increased military

spending in Russia to about 30% of the

budget and now this is happening in more

and more countries because they are fed

to if you don't do it you are exposed

and this leads to this kind of vicious

circle and we go back to the Middle Ages

basically but there is an opposite Trend

which functioned in in previous decades

that if some countries lower their

military expenditure their neighbors

feel more secure they also lower their

military expenditure they can spend more

on healthare and education

the uh uh citizens of these countries

they get used to the situation when the

money is spent on nurses and schools not

on tanks and life improves they like it

and more people want to live like that

so you have these two possibilities of

magical circles and uh we have to get

trapped in the positive Circle at

present we are being sucked into the

negative Circle so we have a situation

if we look at uh the situation in the

Middle East where October 7 a horrific

event that took place 1200 people were

left dead and it shocked Israel it

shocked Israel on so many levels we now

have a situation where almost 30,000

Palestinians have been killed in total

they say 100,000 Palestinians have been

killed injured missing do you think that

the response was the right response as a

historian as someone who understands the

pain of of Israel as well and the

tragedy of the Palestinians the the

biggest piece of the puzzle is missing

is what is the aim of the war you know

the most basic maxim of military Theory

going back to car kovitz is war is the

continuation of politics by other means

you cannot understand anything about a

war unless you know what are its

political aims and we have many cases in

history when people think in strictly

military turns they win every battle and

they lose the war completely like we saw

it in the American invasion of Iraq the

Americans won every significant military

engagement and they completely lost the

war the big winner of the Iraq War was

Iran that came out of the war as the

hegemonic power in the Middle East and

much of what is happening right now also

to Israel and to the Palestinians the

war between Israel and Hamas the

threatened war with kisala it all goes

back to some extent to Iranian hegemony

in the Middle East which was brought

about by the American Military

Victory so um what I would ask of course

also my government is what are you

trying to achieve without knowing the

political aim of a war you cannot know

anything really about it especially not

if it's if it's if it's just

if it is uh um leading in in a positive

way or not and as a historian I can also

say that Justice is a very very slippery

term because you always have especially

in war both sides have a very different

conception of Justice because the

historical narrative is completely

different if you go back to the 7th of

October or you go back thousands of

years Israelis and Palestinians tell a

very different hisorical narrative and

therefore they understand Justice

differently and there is no way really

to reconcile it you will never get them

to agree the key is to shift the

discussion from a discussion about

Justice to a discussion about peace you

can't agree what Justice is but peace is

much more objective because are people

being killed or not that's an objective

thing but they've tried over decades to

talk about peace and it's failed so they

have to so we have to try again I mean

you know um what's the alternative to

just go on fighting

forever um yes I mean all attempts

previously made to do to make peace in

the Middle East at least between Israel

and Palestinians failed um what can you

do except try

again what keeps you up at night with

this conflict what do you fear

most personally I feel most for really

the soul of my country of my nation in

Israel at the moment there is really a

battle for the soul of the Israel Nation

between um patriotism on the one side

and ideas of Jewish Supremacy on the

other

side um the current government it has

Elements which are anti-zionist are

against the secular nationalism that

built uh Israel and are in favor of

Jewish Supremacy and you know there is a

very important line in

the for for every

nation between

patriotism and feelings of Supremacy to

be a patriot is to acknowledge the

uniqueness of your n of your nation and

every nation is unique there is nothing

wrong about feeling that my nation is

unique and it has a a a right to uh

develop its unique traditions and

cultures and so forth and it doesn't

prevent you from recognizing the

uniqueness of other nations and their

rights to live in in dignity and

prosperity the danger comes when you

start thinking that my nation is not

just unique is supreme and it has rights

which override the ride of anybody else

and now there is a huge Titanic struggle

within Israel between these two forces

and this is my greatest spirit I it's

I'm I'm not from Kamas it's not from kah

it's not from Iran it's from this inner

struggle that uh uh we might lose this

struggle and then you know that well one

of the objectives at the very beginning

of this conflict was that eliminating

Hamas there are many now coming out at

the beginning of the conflict but now

also now saying saying that Hamas is a

political movement you can't kill an

ideology do you fear that something more

violent more brutal will come out of

this given we have 177,000 orphans now

as a result of this conflict MH well I

think that talking about eliminated

Hamas is is unrealistic uh the more

realistic goal is to eliminate the

military capabilities of

Kamas um again if you think about what

are the aims of the war so from the

perspective of Hamas on the 7th of

October the aim was very clear on the

7th of October Israel was quite close to

signing a historical peace treaty with

Saudi Arabia which was meant to

normalize relations between Israel and

much of the Arab world and also to

potentially restart the Israeli

Palestinian peace process this was a

deadly threat to Hamas which objects to

any Prospect of peace and normalization

between Israel and the Palestinians and

the Arab world the aim of the October

7th attack was to derail to foil this

attempt and to seow seeds of hatred that

will prevent any chance for peace years

in the future and unfortunately Hamas is

a is achieving its its political aims I

think that given the ideology of Hamas

which many times stated that it sees no

potential for any peaceful solution that

it only accepts it's the complete

destruction of Israel then as long as

Hamas retains its military capabilities

every time even if we have a ceasefire

now and we start reconciling and

rebuilding and down the the road two

years five years again we we we come

close to a peace deal they will again

strike so uh I think that uh again you

can't eliminate Hamas but it is

necessary to eliminate at least most of

its military capabilities of course as

you say um something even worse might

might replace it so it's not enough to

eliminate the military capabilities of

Kamas we have to struggle and I'm

talking about when we say we Israel to

present the Palestinians with a better

future than what Hamas is offering and a

better future means to have dignified

lives in there in the Palestinian

Homeland I spoke to someone who said who

for a long time was negotiating

with both sides and he said you need to

be able to write the other side's

victory speech H that's a good point you

know that but here we are today the

Prime Minister prime minister Benjamin

Netanyahu is saying even if the hostages

are released we will go into Rafa do you

think that this is the right sort of

objective and and plan and I just don't

know what's going on in his mind I'm

definitely not his press officer and

cannot explain or or or defend his

thinking I still haven't heard from him

a clear statement about what are the

long-term political aims of the war like

how do you envision our region the

Middle East two years five years down

the

line um and Wars political conflicts

there are these kinds of you know like

children's riddles like these mazes that

you have to find your way inside a maze

every child learns at a certain point

that you have to start from the end like

you have to start from the objective

from the door out of the Maze and then

go walk your way backwards to where you

are now how do we get there so unless

you tell me how you envision the Region

5 years 10 years down the line there is

no way that we can get there and he's

refusing to to to say what is his vision

I sometimes suspect he has no

vision at the beginning of this

conversation you talked about your

children's book and you said for the

first time in your knowledge and

understanding of history people don't

know what the future looks like there is

uncertainty in a deep sense I mean it's

not just political uncertainty also in

the Middle Ages nobody knows if you live

in England in 1024 you don't know maybe

next year the Vikings invade nobody can

predict that but you do know a lot of

things that are not going to change in

the next 10 or 50 or 100 years like the

basic economic structure and the skills

you need to teach your kids you need to

teach them how to uh uh um ride a horse

and bake bread and grow wheat uh because

these are the kind of things people will

still be doing in 50 years now we look

to the Future even 10 or 20 years of the

future nobody has any idea how the job

market would look like because there

things like AI because of AI which means

that we have no idea what skills to

teach children today in school

because you know you say okay let's

teach them how to code computers in 20

years maybe AI is doing all the coding

so you don't need that um and of course

the repercussions for the social and

political system are enormous so this is

a time of of such uncertainty and also

in other fields like you know uh 100

years ago so romantic life didn't change

very much between the generations so if

you go on your first date you can get

good advice from your grandfather or

grandmother but today just to understand

the setting of the Romantic

relationships online it's so different

from what it was 20 or not to say 50

years ago but it's becoming more and

more difficult for adults to understand

the world that the kids have to struggle

with every day which again deprives the

kids of something which was always there

the good advice of of the

adults so then what advice would you

give the future

Generations um the most important skills

are has to do with emotional

intelligence that the only thing we know

about the future is that it will be very

different from the present and it will

change at a very very rapid pace so

people will need a a very strong

psychological resilience to keep

changing and keep learning throughout

their lives we are used traditionally to

a situation when as a as a child or a

teenager you learn a lot you you change

you invent yourself basically and then

as life proceeds you can kind of calm

down I mean you always learn new things

but you mostly uh rely on the skills the

world view the personality that you

acquired in in your younger years this

is not a good plan for the 21st century

the pace of change will be so rapid that

even when you are 40 50 60 if you want

to stay relevant you will have to

reinvent yourself in radical ways to

relearn things uh again and again and

this will create tremendous

psychological stress because change is

always

stressful um and we need to prepare for

it not just as individuals but also as

societies that I think governments need

to think very carefully about investing

a lot more resources in building uh um

um for infrastructure for mental

health um because otherwise I I I don't

know if people are really built to deal

with such a level of of of stress

throughout their lives y Harari thank

you so much for your time thank

you