Quotes from Yuval Noah Harari

it would perhaps be helpful to view immigration as a deal with three basic conditions or terms: TERM 1: The host country allows the immigrants in. TERM 2: In return, the immigrants must embrace at least the core norms and values of the host country, even if that means giving up some of their traditional norms and values. TERM 3: If the immigrants assimilate to a sufficient degree, over time they become equal and full members of the host country. "They" become "us.

Since there is no national answer to the problem of global warming, some nationalist politicians prefer to believe the problem does not exist.

Consider Google. Google wants to reach a point where we can ask it anything and get the best answer in the world. What

As Jesus said, 'It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God' (Matthew 19:24).

Given the proven human propensity for misusing power, it seems naïve to believe that the more clout people have, the happier they will be.

tech companies often evaluate apps, products, and other companies according to the data they harvest rather than according to the money they generate. A

Radical Islam poses no serious threat to the liberal package, because for all their fervour the zealots don't really understand the world of the twenty-first century, and have nothing relevant to say about the novel dangers and opportunities that new technologies are generating all around us.

La domesticación de los animales se basaba en una serie de prácticas brutales que con el paso de los siglos se hicieron todavía más crueles.

Because we intuitively understand that terrorism is theater, we judge it by its emotional rather than material impact.

nothing the terrorists do can defeat us. We are the only ones who can defeat ourselves, if we overreact in a misguided way to their provocations.

Just think of the way that within a mere two decades, billions of people have come to entrust the Google search algorithm with one of the most important tasks of all: searching for relevant and trustworthy information. We no longer search for information. Instead, we google.

But numbers alone don't count for much in history.

If, however, you want to retain some control of your personal existence and of the future of life, you have to run faster than the algorithms, faster than Amazon and the government, and get to know yourself before they do. To run fast, don't take much luggage with you. Leave all your illusions behind. They are very heavy.

The less political violence in a particular state, the greater the public shock at an act of terrorism.

Scientists hope to dispel wrong views by better science education, and pundits hope to sway public opinion on issues such as Obamacare or global warming by presenting the public with accurate facts and expert reports

It's such an essential feature of any culture that it even has a name: 'cognitive dissonance'. Cognitive dissonance is often considered a failure of the human psyche. In fact it is a vital asset. Had people been unable to hold contradictory beliefs and values, it would probably have been impossible to establish and maintain any human culture.

If an elephant's brain is in India its eyes and ears in China and its feet in Australia, then this elephant is most probably dead, and even if it is in some mysterious sense alive, it cannot see, hear or walk.

But [the algirithm] won't have to be perfect. It will just need to be better on average than us humans. And that is not so difficult, because most people don't know themelves very well, and most people often make terrible mistakes in the most important decisions of their lives

los sapiens no se comportan según una fría lógica matemática, sino según una cálida lógica social. Nos rigen las emociones.

each group and subgroup faces a different maze of glass ceilings, double standards, coded insults, and institutional discrimination.

The most important segments of many religious dogmas are not their ethical principles, but rather factual statements such as 'God exists', 'the soul is punished for its sins in the afterlife', 'the Bible was written by a deity rather than by humans', 'the Pope is never wrong'.

You may not agree with the idea that organisms are algorithms, and that giraffes, tomatoes and human beings are just different methods for processing data. But you should know that this is current scientific dogma, and it is changing our world beyond recognition.

This is why we can still find ourselves between the pages of the Bible, in the writings of Confucius or within the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. These classics were created by humans just like us, hence we feel that they talk about us. In modern theatre productions, Oedipus, Hamlet and Othello may wear jeans and T-shirts and have Facebook accounts, but their emotional conflicts are the same as in the original play.

Domesticated chickens and cattle may well be an evolutionary success story, but they are also among the most miserable creatures that ever lived.