Book Recommendation: Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
A must read for the New Year
Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher and one of the greatest minds of this generation. I recently finished his latest book Nexus and am posting here as a recommend.
Nexus covers some broad ground but the controlling idea is those who stand at the intersection of information networks wield the power, and it’s always been that way whether it be during the reign of Tiberius in Ancient Rome or in the inevitable confrontations with AI that are likely to shape global conflict in the 21st century and beyond.
Here are some stand out insights:
He contends that most information is junk.
He challenges the basic assumption of Silicon Valley that flooding the world with more information will give rise to the truth, when in fact it pushes truth to the bottom and brings about fictions and lies.
Truth is difficult to arrive at and it’s expensive. Fiction is cheap and easy, hence the scourge of conspiracy theories inundating the information landscape.
He breaks down the idea of “self-correcting mechanisms” and how they hold a functioning democracy in place, and gives a play by play of how authoritarians systematically dismantle these mechanisms to find themselves at this nexus of power.
AI is Alien Intelligence, and argues there is nothing artificial about it.
Fake news is not a new phenomenon. It has been in use by power structures and authoritarians since the beginning of time.
I would recommend all of Harari’s books, Sapiens in particular for those just coming into familiarity with his work. Can’t recommend him enough.