The 2 Most Important Skills For the Rest Of Your Life | Yuval Noah Harari on Impact Theory

Summary

In this impactful discussion, Yuval Noah Harari, author of 'Sapiens' and '21 Lessons for the 21st Century', explores the profound implications of living in an era where technology enables the 'hacking' of human beings. He delves into the potential for AI to predict and manipulate desires, the ethical challenges of personal data usage, and the necessity for emotional intelligence and adaptability in a rapidly changing job market. Harari emphasizes the importance of clear public discourse on critical global issues, urging a focus on nuclear war, climate change, and technological disruption.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The 21st century is characterized by the ability to 'hack' humans through technology, which allows for the deciphering of thoughts, predictions of choices, and manipulation of desires in unprecedented ways.
• 📚 Yuval Noah Harari, a renowned historian, emphasizes the importance of understanding history and current technological trends to navigate the future effectively.
• 🏆 Harari's work has been recognized with numerous awards and has been influential in shaping discussions on the future of humanity, as evidenced by his appearances at prestigious events like the World Economic Forum.
• 🤖 The convergence of biotech and infotech enables the creation of algorithms that can understand individuals better than they understand themselves, potentially leading to manipulation at a personal level.
• 🛠️ While the ability to hack humans poses significant risks, it also offers tremendous potential benefits, such as advancements in healthcare that could democratize access to medical knowledge.
• 🏥 The potential for personalized healthcare through technology could revolutionize the medical field, offering even the poorest individuals access to better healthcare than what is currently available to the wealthiest.
• 🌐 The script raises ethical questions about privacy versus healthcare, highlighting the tension between the benefits of data-driven medicine and the risks of data misuse.
• 🎨 Harari discusses the role of stories in shaping human identity and the modern tendency to outsource the construction of personal narratives to social media platforms.
• 💡 The idea that self-discovery can be aided or even outsourced to algorithms poses philosophical questions about what it means to be human and how we understand ourselves.
• 📈 The rapid pace of technological change means that the need for continuous learning and reinvention is not a one-time event but a continuous process throughout one's life.
• 📚 Harari advocates for an education system that fosters emotional intelligence and mental flexibility to prepare individuals for a future where job stability is uncertain.

Q & A

What is the main concern about technological advancements in the 21st century as discussed by Yuval Noah Harari?

The main concern is that humans are becoming 'hackable animals' with technology being capable of deciphering thoughts, predicting choices, and manipulating desires in unprecedented ways.

What are the two key components required to 'hack' a human being according to the transcript?

To hack a human being, you need a lot of data, especially biometric data, and a significant amount of computing power to make sense of that data.

What is the potential positive consequence of being able to 'hack' humans, as mentioned by Harari?

The potential positive consequence is the provision of the best healthcare in history, possibly allowing even the poorest person to receive better healthcare through their smartphone than the richest person does from the best hospitals today.

How does the merging of biotech and infotech contribute to the ability to 'hack' humans?

The merging of biotech and infotech allows for the creation of algorithms that understand individuals better than they understand themselves, enabling prediction and manipulation of their choices and desires.

What is the potential danger of AI and computers replacing humans in the job market?

The potential danger is the creation of a 'useless class' of people who are pushed out of the job market due to automation, leading to significant economic and social consequences.

What is the philosophical implication of discovering personal traits such as sexual orientation from an algorithm before self-realization?

The philosophical implication is the outsourcing of self-discovery to big data algorithms, which raises questions about human identity, self-awareness, and the authenticity of self-knowledge.

How can algorithms potentially be used to help individuals cope with emotional states such as heartbreak?

Algorithms can select music or other stimuli that best fit the individual's current mental state, potentially helping them navigate through emotional stages more effectively than a human DJ or counselor.

What is the potential benefit of using biometric data for healthcare purposes?

Biometric data can allow algorithms to monitor health continuously and detect issues like cancer at very early stages, making treatment easier, cheaper, and less invasive.

What is the challenge of maintaining privacy when leveraging biometric data for healthcare?

The challenge is balancing the benefits of early disease detection and treatment with the potential misuse of personal health data for non-medical purposes without the individual's consent.

How does the concept of 'story' relate to human identity and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves?

Human identity is a story that we constantly construct and embellish. The stories we tell ourselves, often influenced by social media and other external factors, may not always reflect our authentic selves or realities.

What is the importance of facing the realities about ourselves, even if it is difficult or painful?

Facing the realities about ourselves is important for personal growth and authenticity. While it can be challenging, avoiding self-awareness can lead to delusions that have negative impacts on individuals and society at large.

What is the role of science fiction in shaping public understanding of AI and biotechnology?

Science fiction plays a crucial role in educating the public about AI and biotechnology, as it explores potential scenarios and outcomes in an accessible way, complementing or even surpassing the information provided by the scientific and political communities.

What are the three big challenges to humankind in the 21st century, as identified by Yuval Noah Harari?

The three big challenges are nuclear war, climate change, and technological disruption, which should be the primary focus of the political agenda of every country.

What is the mission Yuval Noah Harari has for his work and public discussions?

Harari's mission is to bring more clarity to public discussions, focusing on the most important questions and helping people understand the significant issues affecting the world, even if they don't agree on the solutions.

Outlines

00:00

🌐 The Age of Hackable Humans

In the first paragraph, the speaker introduces the concept of humans becoming 'hackable animals' in the 21st century due to advancements in technology that can decipher thoughts, predict choices, and manipulate desires. The guest, Yuval Noah Harari, renowned author and thinker, is welcomed to discuss the profound implications of this technological revolution on human autonomy and the potential for corporations and governments to exert control over individuals through data and computing power.

05:02

🤖 The Merger of Infotech and Biotech

The second paragraph delves into the merger of infotech and biotech, which has led to the creation of algorithms capable of understanding individuals better than they understand themselves. This has significant implications for personal privacy and manipulation, as well as the potential for unprecedented healthcare advancements. The discussion highlights the dual-edged nature of this technology, which can be used to predict and manipulate consumer choices, as well as to provide highly personalized healthcare solutions.

10:04

🏳️‍🌈 Self-Discovery in the Algorithmic Age

The third paragraph explores the philosophical and personal implications of self-discovery through algorithms, such as a controversial Stanford study that claimed to predict sexual orientation from facial features. The conversation touches on the potential for algorithms to reveal deeply personal aspects of identity before individuals are consciously aware of them, raising questions about identity, privacy, and the role of technology in self-understanding.

15:06

🎵 The Algorithmic Personal DJ

In this paragraph, the discussion turns to the role of algorithms in shaping our emotional experiences, particularly through music. The potential for algorithms to understand and manipulate our biochemical responses to art and music is examined, along with the ethical considerations of using such technology to influence our emotional states for commercial or personal gain.

20:09

🛑 The Future of Privacy and Health

The focus of the fifth paragraph is the tension between privacy and health in the era of advanced biometric data collection. The potential benefits of constant health monitoring through algorithms are weighed against the risks of personal data misuse. The speaker advocates for a balance that allows for improved healthcare without compromising privacy.

25:11

📖 The Storytelling Machine

The sixth paragraph examines the concept of identity as a narrative constructed by the human mind, and how technology platforms like Facebook have become external tools for crafting and sharing these stories. The discussion highlights the discrepancy between the curated online persona and the reality of an individual's life, and the potential consequences of becoming too attached to a fictionalized version of oneself.

30:12

🧘‍♂️ The Pursuit of Authenticity and Happiness

In this paragraph, the conversation centers on the challenge of achieving happiness through self-awareness and authenticity. The speaker argues that while self-delusion can provide temporary happiness, it comes at a high cost, leading to conflict and misunderstanding. The importance of facing one's true self, despite the difficulty and discomfort, is emphasized as a path to long-term well-being.

35:15

🔄 The Constant Need for Reinvention

The seventh paragraph addresses the necessity for individuals to continually reinvent themselves in a rapidly changing job market due to AI and automation. The psychological and emotional challenges of adapting to new careers and skills are discussed, along with the potential societal implications of a workforce needing to evolve at an unprecedented pace.

🎓 Education for an Uncertain Future

In the final paragraph, the focus is on the dilemma of choosing the right education path in an unpredictable job market. The speaker suggests that investing in emotional intelligence and mental flexibility may be more valuable than specific skill sets, as these attributes will enable continuous learning and adaptation throughout one's life.

🌟 The Role of Science Fiction in Shaping Our Future

The last paragraph emphasizes the critical role of science fiction in educating the public about the potential impacts of emerging technologies like AI and biotech. The speaker argues that science fiction has a responsibility to explore and clarify these possibilities, helping to shape a more informed and thoughtful public discourse.

🌍 Clarifying the Global Conversation

In the concluding remarks, the speaker outlines his mission to bring clarity to public discussions about the significant challenges facing humanity, such as nuclear war, climate change, and technological disruption. He stresses the importance of focusing on the right questions and fostering a global conversation that can lead to meaningful solutions.

Keywords

💡hackable animals

The term 'hackable animals' refers to the concept that humans can now be manipulated and understood at a deep level through technology. In the video, Yuval Noah Harari discusses how advancements in biotechnology and computing power allow for the prediction and control of human desires and behaviors, which was not possible in the past. This is a central theme of the discussion, highlighting the profound impact of technology on human autonomy and privacy.

💡biometric data

Biometric data pertains to the measurable biological traits of an individual, such as heart rate, brain activity, and other internal body processes. In the context of the video, Harari explains that to hack a human, one needs extensive biometric data combined with significant computing power. This data is crucial for creating algorithms that can understand and predict human behavior better than the individual themselves, exemplifying the invasive potential of modern technology.

💡infotech

Infotech, short for information technology, encompasses the hardware, software, networks, and systems that facilitate the creation, manipulation, storage, and dissemination of various forms of electronic information. In the video, the convergence of infotech with biotech is highlighted as a key driver behind the ability to hack human beings, as it provides the necessary computational power to analyze vast amounts of biometric data.

💡algorithms

Algorithms are systematic procedures or set of rules to solve a problem or perform a computation. In the video, the development of algorithms that understand individuals better than they understand themselves is discussed. These algorithms can predict choices and manipulate desires, which has significant implications for personal freedom and the influence of corporations and governments over individuals.

💡re-engineering

Re-engineering refers to the process of rethinking, redesigning, and rebuilding an existing system or process to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. In the script, Harari mentions that once a system is hacked and understood, it can be re-engineered or replaced. This concept is applied to the potential for AI and technology to understand and potentially replace or redesign human functions and roles in society.

💡surveillance capitalism

Surveillance capitalism is a term used to describe a new economic order in which personal data is mined, predicted, and sold for profit. In the video, it is implied that companies can use the knowledge of personal information, such as sexual orientation, to target individuals with specific advertisements, showcasing the invasive nature of data-driven marketing strategies.

💡self-discovery

Self-discovery is the process of understanding and becoming aware of one's own identity, desires, and beliefs. In the context of the video, Harari raises the question of what it means to discover personal aspects, such as sexual orientation, through an algorithm rather than through personal reflection or experience. This challenges traditional notions of self-exploration and the role of technology in shaping our understanding of ourselves.

💡biochemical system

The biochemical system refers to the complex set of chemical reactions that occur within living organisms, including humans. In the video, Harari suggests that art, music, and other forms of emotional stimuli essentially play on the human biochemical system. The potential for algorithms to understand and manipulate this system more effectively than humans raises questions about the future of art and emotional experience.

💡emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others. Harari emphasizes the importance of investing in emotional intelligence as a key skill for adapting to the changing job market and for personal development. It is presented as a critical component of lifelong learning and the capacity to reinvent oneself in response to societal and technological shifts.

💡reinvention

Reinvention refers to the process of creating a new version of something, often changing its identity or function. In the video, the concept of personal reinvention is discussed in the context of an ever-evolving job market and the need for individuals to adapt and learn new skills throughout their lives. The challenge of reinvention is highlighted as a significant psychological and emotional hurdle that people may face multiple times in their careers.

💡science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts, often exploring the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations. In the video, Harari notes the importance of science fiction in shaping public understanding of new technologies like AI and biotechnology, emphasizing its role in preparing society for the changes they may bring.

Highlights

In the 21st century, we are now 'hackable animals' with technology capable of deciphering our thoughts, predicting choices, and manipulating desires.

To hack a human, two things are needed: extensive biometric data and significant computing power to analyze it.

Historically, organizations like the KGB lacked the data and computing power necessary to hack humans effectively.

Modern corporations and governments are beginning to achieve the ability to hack humans due to advancements in biotech and infotech.

Algorithms may soon understand individuals better than they understand themselves, predicting and manipulating their choices and desires.

The potential to hack humans also brings positive consequences, such as significant improvements in healthcare.

In the future, technology could provide superior healthcare through smartphones, even to the poorest individuals.

The concept of 'hacking' oneself positively involves leveraging biometric data to understand and clarify deeply ingrained desires and traits.

An algorithm developed by Stanford can predict sexual orientation with high accuracy from facial images, raising questions about self-discovery and privacy.

The philosophical implications of outsourcing self-discovery to algorithms challenge traditional notions of self-exploration and identity.

Algorithms can be used to enhance emotional experiences, such as selecting music that matches an individual's current state of mind.

The role of art and music in inspiring emotions can be replicated by algorithms that understand the human biochemical system.

People may willingly trade privacy for improved healthcare, but the balance between the two is a significant political and ethical question.

The importance of stories in shaping our lives, and how technology like social media has shifted the construction of personal narratives.

The challenge of maintaining a coherent and true narrative of oneself in the face of constant editing and outsourcing to platforms like Facebook.

The potential for algorithms to predict and manipulate not just personal traits but also larger societal and political narratives.

The necessity for individuals to develop emotional intelligence and mental flexibility to adapt to the rapidly changing job market and technological landscape.

The role of science fiction in educating the public about AI and biotechnology, and its responsibility to explore potential futures accurately.

Yuval Noah Harari's mission to bring clarity to public discussions, focusing on the most important questions facing humanity in the 21st century.

Transcripts

well i think this is maybe the most

important thing to know about living

right now in the 21st century that we

are now hackable animals that we have

the technology to decipher what you

think what you want to predict human

choices to manipulate human desires in

ways which were never possible before

hey everybody welcome to impact theory

our goal with the show and company is to

introduce you to the people and ideas

that will help you actually execute on

your dreams

alright today's guest is one of the most

profound thinkers of our time a two-time

winner of the polanski prize for

creativity and originality his books

have sold over 12 million copies and

been translated into more than 45

languages

sapiens his seminal book on the history

of mankind spent six months on the

sunday times bestseller list and also

made him a number one new york times

best-selling author his work has been

recommended by countless luminaries

including bill gates richard branson

mark zuckerberg and barack obama he's

won a litany of awards including the

society for military history's mankato

award for outstanding articles on

military history and the 2017

handelsblatt's german economic book

award for the most thoughtful and

influential economic book of the year

additionally he's one of the most sought

after and influential speakers in the

world he's given multiple ted talks on

hot button issues relating to the human

race and in 2018 he was invited to give

the main stage keynote speech on the

future of humanity at the world economic

forum annual meeting in davos he has a

phd from oxford is a tenured history

professor at the hebrew university of

jerusalem and in addition to his many

books he's also written for such

prestigious global outlets as the

financial times the new york times the

wall street journal and the guardian so

please help me in welcoming the man who

does a yearly 60-day silent vipassana

meditation retreat the best-selling

author of 21 lessons for the 21st

century yuval noah harari

good to have you on the show thank you

it's good to be here dude very excited

so i've been obsessively reading your

books since sapiens came out uh and just

really really blown away and behind the

scenes there's a guy here named chase

somewhere who you will have to meet

today who has just been an absolute

champion for your books internally

because of the way that you really frame

the historical and where we're going in

a way that becomes very accessible for

today and who we are and that i think is

the cool nexus of um 21 lessons is that

you're really attacking how does this

all make sense how is the passing form

where we are and how does where we are

today inform where we're actually going

to go

and as a company that's making

fiction content and dealing in sci-fi

and things like that these ideas are

really really important to us for

creating guides on how to be essentially

and the idea that i wanted to start with

is your notion of

some of the things that are happening

technologically become a little bit

dangerous because you can hack a human

and if you could explain what you mean

by hacking a human and then

how do we end up hacking ourselves in a

positive way

well i think this is maybe the most

important thing to know about living

right now in the 21st century that we

are now hackable animals we have the

technology to decipher how humans or

what you think what you want to predict

human choices to manipulate human

desires in ways which were never

possible before

basically to hack a human being you need

two things

you need a lot of data

especially biometric data not just about

where you go and what you buy but what

is happening inside your body and inside

your brain and secondly you need a lot

of computing power to make sense of all

that data now previously in history this

was never possible

nobody had

enough data and enough computing power

to hack human beings even if the kgb of

the gestapo followed you around 24 hours

a day eavesdropping on every

conversation you had watching everybody

you meet

still they did not have the biological

knowledge

to really understand what's happening

inside you and they certainly didn't

have the computing power necessary to

make sense even of the data they were

able to collect

so the kgb could not really understand

you could not really predict all your

choices or manipulate all your desires

and so forth

and but now it's changing

what the kgb

couldn't do

corporations and governments today are

beginning to be able to do

and this is because of the merger of the

revolution in biotech we are

getting better in understanding what's

happening inside us in the body in the

brain and at the same time the

revolution in infotec which gives us the

computing power necessary when you put

the two together when infotech merges

with biotech what you get is the ability

to

create algorithms that understand me

better than i understand myself

and then these algorithms cannot just

predict my choices but also manipulate

my desires and basically sell me

anything whether it's a product or a

politician

and that so that's what you're calling

hacking that you're hitting me with the

right emotional message at exactly the

right time based on my biometric data

yeah this is one of the things you can

do then you can predict you can

manipulate you can eventually also

re-engineer or replace if you really

hack a system you really understand how

it functions then usually you can also

re-engineer it or you can completely

replace it

and

again one of the dangers that we are

facing today in the 21st century is that

computers and ai would be able to

replace humans in more and more tasks

and maybe push millions of humans out of

the job market as a result all right so

i i fully understand the dangers and we

will talk about some of what we were

talking about off camera which is we've

got this whole story called neon future

where we're exploring that notion of

what happens to what you've called the

useless class

when they're pushed out of the job

market and what does that do

economically but going just staying with

the the notion of the hackability for a

second so

it's funny as you were describing it and

i know you bring this sense of like uh

there's some like real significant

problems we need to take a very serious

look at and i get almost giddy with

excitement because i have

potentially delusional levels of

optimism i'm very open to that no i

agree i mean the thing about this

ability to hack humans is that it has

also potentially tremendous positive

consequences and this is why it's so

tempting if it was only bad

then it was it would have been like an

easy deal to say okay we don't want that

and let's stop researching or going in

that direction but it is extremely

tempting because it can provide us for

example with the best healthcare in

history something which goes far beyond

anything we've seen so far this can mean

that maybe in 30 years

the poorest person on the planet can get

a better health care from her or his

smartphone then the richest person today

gets from the best hospitals and the

best doctors the kind of things you can

just know about what's happening in your

body

um is nothing like we've seen so far

yeah now that that's really

extraordinary and if you had to take the

positive look and say okay we have this

ability let's just say it's already

there we've got all this biometric data

it's kicking off

how would you

encourage people to leverage that to

empower themselves and i'll use an

example that i found profoundly

interesting from your book so you said

that growing up that it was unclear to

you that you were gay but that now

stanford has developed an algorithm that

essentially can look at three or four

photos of somebody's face

and predict with 91 accuracy whether or

not they're gay which seems impossible

but if that's true the level of data

that we could give ourselves about our

like deepest

most hardwired desires

there would be a level of clarity there

that seems useful

how would you encourage people to use

that well it's a very good example i

mean the stanford algorithm actually

there is a lot of problems with that

research and let's put it aside but

first key message from from that is how

little people actually know about

themselves

and um one of the most important things

in my life and also in i think in my

scientific career

was the realization of how little i know

about myself

and humans in general there was so many

important ideas and important facts we

don't realize about ourselves i was 21

when i finally realized that i was gay

which is you know when you think about

it it's it's absolutely amazing i mean

it should have been obvious at age you

know 16 15

and an algorithm would have realized it

very quickly and you can build

algorithms like that today or in a few

years

you just need to to follow your eye

movements

like you you go on on the beach or you

look at the computer screen and you see

an attractive guy an attractive girl and

just follow the focus of the eyes where

do the eyes go and whom do they focus on

should be very easy

and uh such an algorithm could have told

when i was 15 that i was gay

and the implications are really

mind-boggling when an algorithm knows

such an important thing about you before

you know it about yourself now it can go

in all kinds of directions it really

depends on where you live and what you

do with it in some countries you can be

in trouble now with the police and the

government uh you might be sent to some

re-education facility

in some countries like with you know

surveillance capitalism so maybe i don't

know about myself that i'm gay

but coca-cola knows that i'm gay because

they have these algorithms and they want

to know that because they need to know

which commercials to show me let's say

coca-cola knows that i'm gay and i even

noted about myself that they know it and

pepsi doesn't

coca-cola will show me a commercial with

a shirtless guy drinking coca-cola but

pepsi will make the mistake of showing a

girl in the bikini and next day without

my realizing why when i go to the

supermarket when i go to the uh to the

restaurant i will order coca-cola not

pepsi

i don't know why but they know so they

might not even share this kind of

information with me

now if the algorithm does share the

information with me again it a lot

depends on context

one scenario

is that you're 15 years old you go to a

birthday party of somebody from your

class and somebody just heard

that there is this cool new algorithm

which tells your sexual orientation

and everybody agrees it will be a lot of

fun to just have this game that

everybody takes turn with the algorithm

and and everybody else looking and then

and seeing the results would you like to

discover about yourself in such a

scenario

this this can be quite

quite a shocking experience okay but

even if it's done in like complete

privacy you know it's it's it's a very

deep philosophical question

what does it mean to discover something

like that about yourself

from an algorithm

what what does it mean about human life

about human identity

we have very little experience with

these kinds of things

you know from very ancient times

all the philosophers and saints and

sages tell people to get to know

yourself better it's one of the maybe

the most important thing in life is to

get to know yourself better

but

for all of history this was a process of

self-exploration

which you did through things like

meditation and maybe sports and maybe

art and contemplation and all these

things

what does it mean

when the process of self self

exploration is being outsourced to a big

data algorithm and the philosophical

implications are quite mind-boggling

it's interesting so let's talk about

that so the implications you're

outsourcing the self-discovery process

to me that sounds so profoundly useful

because all day the people that write in

to me they're asking basically one

essential question how do i find the

thing that i love because i tell people

you need to develop a passion in your

life i don't think you find it i think

you develop it but they need to start

from an area of real interest it needs

to be actually something that at a

hardwiring level they're just they get

that response so

then their next question is like how

right how do i get into that how do i

discover the thing that triggers me like

that and if i discover it then how do i

develop it into a passion if you had an

algorithm

something that were able to

[Music]

use the more manipulative techniques

that you were talking about that

coca-cola is doing or whatever but give

it to you in a way that can move you in

a desired direction so i'll give you a

specific example that you give in the

book so talking about how let's say

there was an algorithm that knew you'd

just broken up with somebody knew that

you were in the grips of heartache

because they're they're reading your

biometrics they're watching your heart

in fact give it to us that that example

that you you put so the biometrics

they're reading you the it's the song it

knows what songs to pick yeah i mean

something is as simple as choosing music

so you you were just dumped by a

boyfriend or girlfriend and the the

algorithm that controls uh the music

that you listen to chooses the songs

that are the best fit

for your current mental state

and of course this brings up the

question of what is the matrix what do

you actually want

from the music do you want the music to

uplift you or do you want the music to

kind of connect you to the deepest level

of sadness and depression

and ultimately we can say that the

algorithm can follow different kinds of

instructions

if you know

what kind of emotional state you want to

be in you can just tell the algorithm

what what you want and it will do it if

you are not sure you can tell the

algorithm

follow the recommendation of the

best psychologist today so let's say you

have the five stages of grief

so okay walk me with music through this

five stages of grief

and the algorithm can do that better

than than any human dj and what we

really need to understand in this regard

is that what music and most of art plays

on in the end is the human biochemical

system at least according to the

dominant view of art in the modern

western world we had different views in

different cultures but in the modern

western world the idea of art is that

art is above all about inspiring human

emotions

it doesn't necessarily have to be joy

great art can inspire also sadness can

can inspire

anger can inspire fear it can be a whole

palate of emotional states but out is

about inspiring human emotions

so the instrument

artists play on and whether it's

musicians or poets or movie makers

they're actually playing on the homo

sapiens biochemical system

and we might reach a point quite soon

when an algorithm

knows this instrument better than any

human artist a movie or a poem or a song

that will not

move you that will not inspire you might

inspire me and something that will

inspire me in one situation might not

inspire me in another situation and as

time goes on and the algorithm gathers

more and more data about me it will

become more and more accurate

in reading my biochemical system and

knowing how to play on it as if it was a

piano like okay you want joy

i press this button and out comes the

perfect song the only song in the world

that can actually make me joyful right

now

that's so interesting to me all right so

right now real world you can snap your

fingers and you can have one algorithm

that's tied to one

biochemical process in your life for

real what would you want to monitor and

get that feedback on now that's easy i

mean healthcare if there is like

something seriously wrong in my body

that i don't know about like i don't

know cancer or something i would like

the algorithm to find that out i don't

want to wait until i mean the usual

process

is that it has to go through your own

mind you can't outsource it i mean today

when you need to diagnose cancer there

are exceptions but in most cases there

is a crucial moment when you feel

something is wrong in my body and you go

to this doctor and that doctor and then

you do this test and that test until

they finally realize okay we just

discovered you have cancer in your liver

or whatever

um but

because it relies on your own feelings

in this case feelings of pain very often

uh it it's quite late in the process

by the time you start feeling pain

usually the cancer has spread and maybe

it's not too late but it's going to be

expensive and painful and problematic to

treat it

but if we can you know outsource this

don't go through the mind through

through my my feelings i want an

algorithm that with biometric sensors is

monitoring my health 24 hours a day

without my being aware of it

it can potentially discover this liver

cancer but it is just a tiny just a few

cells are beginning to to to to split

and to spread

and it's so easy and cheap and painless

to take care of it now

instead of two years later when it's

already spread and it's it's a big

problem

so this is something that i think almost

everybody would sign on to and this is

the big temptation

because it comes with the whole other

the long tail of dangers i mean this

algorithm the the the healthcare system

knows almost everything about you

so one of the biggest

battles in the 21st century is likely to

be between privacy and health

and i guess that health is going to win

most people will be willing to give up a

very significant amount of privacy in

exchange for far better health care now

we do need to try and enjoy both worlds

to create a system that gives us a very

good healthcare but without compromising

our privacy keeping the yes you can use

the data to tell me that there is a

problem and and we should do this or

that to solve it but i don't want this

data to be used for other purposes

without my knowing it whether we can

reach such a balance

and like you know have your cake and eat

it too that's a big political question

yeah

yeah that's uh that is very crazy and

very exciting for somebody like me who

definitely airs on the side of wanting

the healthcare um you've talked really

powerfully about story about how stories

like money which i don't think most

people think of as a story um as being

you know these tremendous things that

control all of our lives that point us

all in the same direction that gives us

sort of a common code by which to live

how can people take control of the story

that they tell themselves about

themselves which i find

to be one of the most

important stories that you engage in

yes so our identity

is really just a story which we

constantly construct and and embellish i

mean you can say that the entire human

mind is a machine that constantly

produces stories and especially one very

important story which is my

story and different people have

different specialized in different

genres some people build their stories a

tragedy some people build their story as

a comedy or as a drama

but um in the end i the self is a story

and not a real thing

and on the one hand with all the new

technologies

you get

better and better abilities to construct

yourself but already today a lot of the

work

which previously was done in the brain

and in the mind of constructing my

identity my story has been outsourced to

things like facebook

that you build your facebook account

and this is actually outsourcing it from

the brain

and you are busy maybe for hours every

day just building a story and becoming

extremely attached to it and and

publicizing it to everybody and you tend

to make this fundamental mistake you

think it's it's the this is really me

and um so why is that a mistake

i'm actually really curious first of all

if you take something like the profile

that people create about themselves in

in facebook or instagram it should be

obvious it doesn't really reflect your

actual

existence your actual reality both in

reality and outer reality like the

percentage of time you smile in your

instagram account is much bigger than

the percentage of time you smile in real

life

and you know you go on some vacation

um and you post the the images from the

vacation so usually you're smiling in

your in your swimming suit on the beach

with your girlfriend and boyfriend

holding this cocktail and everything

looks perfect and everybody is so

envious

but actually you just had a nasty fight

with your boyfriend five minutes ago and

then this is the image that everybody

else is seeing and thinking oh they must

have such wonderful time and afterwards

like a year later or two years later

you look back and this is what you see

and you forget what was the actual

experience like

what what is the role of truth in the

story that we tell ourselves about

ourselves

very little

do you think there should be more there

should there should definitely be more

and what would be the outcome if we were

like i'm really going to make sure that

the story i tell myself is objectively

true

it's going to be very very painful and

difficult i think it is worth the effort

but it's just very difficult we

constantly

uh we constantly edit

the

this story

just like the news on tv are edited and

just like you know it's a bit like

making a movie like you watch the movie

in the cinema and everything is so

seamless

like yeah this is the story it flows

and then when you actually see how a

movie is produced this is insane like

you have this tiny bit of a scene you

repeat it 50 times

and sometimes you know you shoot this

scene this scene scene two comes after

scene one but actually it was filmed

long before that so sometimes you you

you feel the breakup of of the lovers

before you film

the the first meeting for all kinds of

scheduled reasons and locations so the

the end result is completely seamless

and perfect but it is actually made up

from all these tiny tiny disconnected

bits that have been you know this is

from here and this is from there and we

somehow glue it together and it looks

good

and it's the same with the story of our

life

it's all kinds of bits and pieces

and only when you tell it to yourself or

to somebody else

it kind of makes sense

the cost of trying to stick

with the reality as it is

is very very high it's very difficult it

demands a lot of effort and it is often

very painful because you have to

acknowledge many things about yourself

that you don't want to acknowledge them

people have this

fantasy

of

i don't know going to some retreat and

just taking out a week or two from life

to really observe inside to really

explore who am i what is my authentic

self and they have this

fantastic notion

that i will be able to finally connect

to my inner child and i will discover my

true vocation in life and i will

discover all these wonderful things

about me

and when you actually do it

the first thing you usually encounter is

all the things you don't want to know

about yourself there is a reason that

that that you don't want to know them i

think it's worth the effort but it's a

very very hard

task

all right on that there's so many

studies that talk about the more

delusional somebody is self-delusional

the more likely they are to be happy

you've said one of the big questions as

a historian you're trying to answer is

as we've moved forward as a

you know a species of society have we

actually gotten happier

so there is some importance it sounds

like that you place on happiness so why

then would you want people to do that

hard work of facing the realities

recognizing the things about themselves

that they don't necessarily want to

recognize is that because you think it

leads to more happiness i think that

ultimately it is worth the price i mean

delusions come at at a very high

price also

um

and not just to yourself

but to people around you to the world as

a whole i mean ultimately this leads to

things like wars and like genocide and

like in empire and you know i come from

israel i come from the middle east so i

am surrounded by millions of people who

are killing each other because of all

kinds of fictional stories and delusions

that they believe in

so sometimes it's an important defensive

mechanism it's very difficult to live

just with the raw truth all the time

but the price of delusion and the price

of not being able to tell the difference

between fiction and reality it adds up

and eventually it adds up to things like

genocide and war

that sounds like a pretty extraordinary

price to pay yeah i would agree with you

there um in 21 lessons is

what do we do when

we're

faced with being put out of work that we

are one of the useless class and we have

to do this reinvention at a career level

you're living longer your career life is

50 60 70 80 years whatever that looks

like in a time where every seven to ten

years like it's just it's a completely

new world

what do you think the human capacity for

that level of reinvention is

well that's a very important question it

has little to do with immortality

because even without immortality we are

heading in the direction even if people

if the lifespan remains as it is 80

years

every 10 years you have another big

shock i mean people

one of the things many people don't

realize about the ai revolution and the

automation revolution they imagine it as

some kind of

one-time event we have the big ai

revolution in 2025 you have all these

truck drivers and taxi drivers and

doctors and whatever losing their jobs

you have a few difficult years of

adjustment

and then eventually you have the new

brave new world of ai with a new

equilibrium

and this is an extremely unlikely

scenario because we are nowhere near

the maximum potential of ai

the speed in which it develops is only

likely to accelerate

so what we are really going to face

is a cascade of ever bigger revolutions

in the job market and in many other

areas of life relationships politics and

so forth

so you have

a big disruption in 2025 you have an

even bigger disruption in 2035 and even

bigger one in 2045 and so forth and if

you look say the job market

so okay you were a truck driver and they

no longer need you but there is new

demand for yoga teachers so you somehow

reinvent yourself at age 40. i'm no

longer truck driver now i'm a yoga

teacher

it's very difficult to somehow do it

ten years later no need of yoga teachers

thank you very much we now have these

amazing applications connected with

biometric sensors to your body they know

exactly

what you're doing with every tiny muscle

as you do this posture or that posture

no human yoga teacher can compete with

that

you're out of job you have to reinvent

yourself again as a designer of virtual

world games

and you do it somehow but 10 years later

you have to do it again because this too

has now been automated

and even if you get support from the

government and there is all these

uh education for for adult uh a system

the really big question is again it's

psychological

do

do we as human beings have the

mental stability and the emotional

intelligence necessary to reinvent

ourselves repeatedly

and you know when you're 20

what you're doing is basically to

reinvent yourself or to invent yourself

for the first time and it is very

difficult

when you're 30

it's even more difficult but you

sometimes but you somehow do it but when

you get to be 40 50 60 it becomes more

and more difficult you have more to let

go of i've invested so much

in building this career this personality

these skills

to give it all up and start again from

from a new it's so difficult so

i don't know whether we can do it

yeah that is the question that i think

we'll ultimately be forced to answer

and that brings me to education so what

do you think that

if

we're talking to somebody who's 18 right

now they're trying to decide do i go to

college yes or no should they go to

college and if they go to college what

should they be studying

um

that's it's a very difficult question

the first thing they should realize

is that nobody really knows

nobody really knows how the job market

would look like in 2040

so they should

be suspicious of all these kinds of

advices by people who pretend that they

know

what the job market would need in 20

years the best investment i would say is

in emotional intelligence

and in mental balance and these kinds of

skills of how to keep changing

throughout your life

how to keep learning throughout your

life

now how do you learn that that's very

very difficult

we don't have a college degree in mental

flexibility

but these are the most important tools

so whatever you choose you can go to law

school you can go to ballet school but

you should keep in mind

that

much of what i'm learning might be

irrelevant in 20 or 30 years so whatever

else i'm doing i should also

invest

in developing my emotional intelligence

my mental balance my ability to keep

changing and learning and reinventing

throughout my life

so maybe to give an image or a metaphor

if in the past

education was like building a stone

house

with very deep foundations

now i would say that education is more

like

a constructing a tent

that you can fold up and move to another

location

very quickly and easily that's a great

analogy

so given that it's so hard to predict

the future you've talked a lot about the

power of science fiction science fiction

writers

walk us through that why

what is the role that a science fiction

writer can play or storyteller filmmaker

whatever the case may be

our lives in the 21st century more than

anything else

are going to be new technologies

especially

ai and biotechnology

and

most people their understanding of these

technologies and their potential for

good or for bad it really comes from

science fiction

the political system so far has done an

awful job

in understanding and preparing us

for these kinds of of development there

is almost no talk in the uh political

arena about ai and biotechnology

the scientific community

is of course very deeply engaged with it

but

most people don't read articles in

science or nature and even if they tried

it would be very difficult for them to

understand the professional jargon and

all the statistics and and so forth

so most people actually get their

education about what's coming from

science fiction

and

this means at least i think so that

science fiction is now the most

important artistic genre

and it should also be the most

responsible

and one of the problems with science

fiction is that so far it has done a

so-so jobs

some

novels and tv series and films are

really amazing in the way they explore

what's what could what could happen

uh ranging like some of my favorites are

my all-time favorite is brave new world

by aldo saxley which was written back in

the early 1930s and i think is the most

prophetic and profound

i totally understand

all right so before i ask my last

question tell these guys where they can

find you online

uh i have a website ynharari.com

and

they can find me on facebook and

instagram and twitter and all the usual

places

awesome my last question is what is the

impact that you want to have on the

world

i want to bring more clarity to the

public conversation on what's happening

in the world

i think that too much of the public

discussion

is focused either on the wrong issues

or is

extremely confused and unclear

and people are flooded by enormous

amounts of information

which they don't know how to make sense

of

and what i i see my mission as bringing

clarity to the public discussion

especially in terms of focusing people's

attention on the most important

questions i try to give some answers too

but i don't care a lot if people don't

agree with me about the answers about

the solutions the important thing i

think is is to agree about the questions

and i would end by saying that there are

three big challenges to humankind in the

21st century

there are nuclear war climate change and

technological disruption

and these should be the first

three items on the political agenda of

every country and this is not the case

right now i would like it to be the case

awesome involved thank you so much for

joining us that was incredible

[Applause]

all right guys when i say that you're

going to learn just an absolute metric

ton of stuff from this man dive into his

first three books they are absolutely

extraordinary

you will learn so much about where we've

come from where we're going and where we

are today that it will give you the

ability to look at yourself in a totally

new way to understand yourself not even

just at the operating system level but

like at the kernel level it was so

fascinating to see him walk us through

that entire lineage

it's unlike anything that i've read

before and reading the books as a

trilogy and understanding um how they

all work together is is breathtaking so

i highly highly highly encourage that

and the fact that he's out there in a

populist way getting people to ask these

questions i think is so critical and he

threw out go back to the beginning of

this episode he threw out some amazing

business ideas without i think even

meaning to but i thought wow somebody

could actually run with these and they

would be extraordinary

and that's just the way his mind works

he really is one of the most profound

thinkers of our time dive in he's

accessible and that is one of the most

beautiful things and remember he's a

historian so the way that he's putting

this all in context is is truly

extraordinary and once you understand

things at why they are the way they are

then it just brings a whole new ability

to see through the lies fake news the

stories we tell ourselves all of the

just natural human attachments to really

come to an understanding of the way the

world actually is and once you

understand that then you can begin to

move in a way that makes sense and

allows you to reach your own goals all

right if you haven't already be sure to

subscribe and until next time my friends

be legendary take

[Applause]

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