This book is intense, probably the most intellectually stimulating book I’ve read in a long time! It covers so many topics, history, science, philosophy, religion, migration, economics, and well-being. His ideas are thought-provoking and mind blowing, there’s something for everyone.
‘Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question’ – Yuval Noah Harari.
Widening your understanding of what the future might look like in 30 years is opportunistic. Big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence are all shaping our future, right before our eyes. ‘Those who own the data - own the future’.
The impact of AI in the future would disempower communities, algorithms will decide for us who we are and what we should know about ourselves. ‘In a world, deluged by irrelevant information – clarity is power’.
His final message encourages us to start examining who we really are, before it’s too late. In fact it’s a lesson for everyone, we will need to be adaptable as life expectancy increases alongside technological advances because ‘change is the only constant’. What does adaptability mean? Growing through change.
One of his best insights was regarding education. There’s a push for schools to teach the 4Cs - critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. The emphasis is on general purpose life skills, to enable children to deal with change, learn new things and to acquire mental balance. I completely agree!
Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. However, I expected a more punchy ending, but with a final chapter on ‘meditation’, it can be hard to pull off. So I give it a 4 star ⭐️ rating.
Book review by Leonora Sinclair.