I read this book a few years ago. It covers many topics, but one takeaway has had the biggest impact on me, and I keep returning to it. I regularly refer to these concepts as I add even more notes to my Zettelkasten.
As I write this introduction, I’m considering titled this post-Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari: Three Types of Reality and How They Impact Us. Which, as you can see, I have done.
Three Different Ways of Seeing the World
Humans see the world through a combination of three lenses that combine to define how we see the world around us.
The most fundamental is objective reality, which comprises the forces of nature, such as the sun’s radiated heat warming my skin on a summer day.
Subjective reality is something an individual thinks is true based on their beliefs and feelings.
Last but not least is the one I’m constantly linking to in my Zettelkasten: intersubjective reality. Unlike a subjective reality, an intersubjective reality is a shared belief between humans. These beliefs are shared between us via language.
Due to our ability to define ideas and beliefs with each other, Yuval Noah Harari has called language “the Human Operating System.”
Why has humanity become the dominant species?
Yuval argues that the key difference between humans and other animals is the ability to create an intersubjective reality and our ability to share it with other people to create what Yuval calls an intersubjective web of meaning.
“Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy; none of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together they compose the world.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditation
The intersubjective web of meaning is where all entities and places exist purely in our shared imagination. It started 70,000 years ago when we began sharing things that existed in our own individual imaginations with others, creating a fictional web of tribal myths and legends.
Some 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians invented writing, making it easier for our common imagination to travel through time and space. Future technology, such as the printing press and the World Wide Web, has only made this spread easier.
It really is no wonder that Yuval is so concerned that artificial intelligence through large language models could take over the future development of our intersubjective web.
Conclusion
As someone interested in technology and computing, I always think this would have been my biggest takeaway.
It is even more important for me to consider these key takeaways when I explore, use, and write about Artificial Intelligence, especially large language models that could potentially enhance our intersubjective reality.
I would recommend reading my blog post “Yuval Noah Harari Lecture on Artificial Intelligence” and then watching the video of the lecture.