21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

The first lines of the introduction give a clue to Yuval's focus, "In a world deluged by irrelevant information clarity is power."  He has already given us a focus on how man came to be and where man can go.  This book reflects on the stresses and contradictions in the world today and explores a few ways we might extricate ourselves.  Fortunately he does have a sense of humor and offers many attention getting examples.

There are more thought provoking ideas than I can cover in a short post.  A lot to digest.  My attempts to sort through are only a taste of what you can expect.  To me this is the Book of the year.

In the middle of the last century the world was offered three global political philosophies--Fascism, Communism and Liberalism.  Fascism was killed during World War II and Communism collapsed by the close of the century leaving Liberalism to expand its umbrella.  However our current news reflects a new range of anti liberal trends.  The 21 Lessons reviews several alternatives we might consider for the 21st century.

Economic growth has underscored liberal thinking, but the most critical problems today are being undercut by economic growth.  Technological innovation threatens job security.  Climate change and pollution suffer with economic growth.  I see a problem with his concern about the need to reduce meat consumption:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/01/what-happens-to-farm-animals-when.html

Social media is taking over the lives of the entire globe.  Yuval expresses concern about online vs offline.  Online does have potential to steer people to offline activities that can be healthy for bodies and social beings. Generally social media is likely to cut down physical interaction and be unhealthy.

Algorithms are becoming increasingly more invasive.  One simple example given was how a GPS system can tell us to turn right or left.  Artificial Intelligence combined with bio tech is now getting  an understanding of emotions.  Algorithms will know you better than you know yourself.  Trust in algorithms will increase as they will become more reliable.

Ethics can be and will be integrated with algorithmic decisions.  Philosophers will have a demand as many decisions will need to be made split second with examples coming from such endeavors as self driving cars.

Happiness depends less on circumstances than on expectations.  Humans are easily satiated.

Inequality is likely to increase as those who control algorithms will have tools to squeeze more.  But it might not just be financial wealth, but also longevity as biotech will be more accessible to some.  The future of the masses will depend upon the goodwill of a small elite.  Some nations with a tradition of liberalism such as France or New Zealand will more likely support the masses while those with a more capitalist tradition like that of the United States may well dismantle the welfare state.  Newly emerging states like India and China, Brazil) are more likely to see an increase in inequality.

Killing a few people in Belgium draws far more attention than killing hundreds in Nigeria or Iraq.

Most people believe they are the centre of the world and their culture the linchpin of human history.  Rather than denigrating other cultures Yuval, a Jew living and working in Israel makes a few points about "God's Chosen People."   The universe is at least 13 billion years old with Earth being formed about 4.5 billion years ago.  Humans have existed for at least 2 million years.  Jerusalem was founded  about 5,000 years ago which does not mean it is eternal.  He also pointed out that Orthodox Jews usually hold the balance of power in Israel and have helped pass laws that curtail activities on the Sabbath including for secular Jews.

Morality predates religion.  He gives the example of pups playing until one bites too hard and they will not play with a bully.

Author quote:  "Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you can not question."

We are all complicit to some degree--"How can anyone understand the web of relations among thousands of intersecting groups across the world."

The meaning of life is looking for a role to play and a story to provide identity.  A wise man asked about meaning of life replied, "I have learned that I am on earth in order to help other people.  What I still haven't figured out is why the other people are here?"

He goes on to say that asking about the meaning of life is the wrong question.  The better question is how do we stop suffering.  He does seem to have a Buddhist bias, but is upfront about it.

Going back to Confucius, rituals are good for social stability.  The most meaningful ritual is sacrifice.  The author contends that rituals are an obstacle to seeking truth.

On the question of free will Yuval asks to define it first.  If you mean the freedom to do what you desire, yes.  But if you mean the freedom to choose what to desire then no.  Humans do not have free will.  He asks us to think where does a thought come from?  He concludes that although we don't have free will we can be a bit more free from the tyranny of our will.

Mankind has made much progress in studying the brain, but have barely begun learning about the mind.  He personally has found meditation to be a tool for observing your own mind directly.  Self observation has always been difficult because there are so many stories surrounding us.  In the future  algorithms will create more stories making it more difficult to observe your mind.

My little sketches do not do justice to his overview of how we might look at life out of our complacent perspective.  Well worth reading and I expect different readers will get different values from the effort.

Read my thoughts  on "Sapiens":  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/12/sapiens-brief-history-of-humankind.html

Read my thoughts on "Homo Deos": http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/04/homo-deus.html

HOMO DEUS

Yuval Noah Harari has written two books that analyze where humankind has come from (http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/12/sapiens-brief-history-of-humankind.html) and where we might go.  Thank goodness it is told with some humour because it is really very deep.  It delves into what makes us who we are.  You will be challenged to study yourself.  There are so many interesting insights in this book, but I can only highlight a few.

Analyses present realities, but always taking into account evolution that brought us here.  For example he points out that revolutions tend to be taken over by those previously close to power such as in Romania and even more recently in Egypt.  Coming through evolution is that humans have the advantage of organizing over all other life and those already organized have the advantage over the rest of humans.  Terrorists are too weak to use conventional methods, but the biggest danger is to over-react which is normally a part of the political process.

Looking to the future he sees that humankind is now able to view death as a technical problem, rather than a religious concern.  As we conquer one disease after another and go deeper into the root causes of aging we develop newer strategies.

Increasingly we view ourselves as the centre of the universe and the author notes that wildlife has been halved while domestic animals have multiplied and are more cruelly treated.  People are said to have souls, but animals do not.  Evolution takes away the concept of souls for humans.  New Zealand became the first nation (May 2015) to declare animals as sentient beings.

Cognitive revolution came when humans took advantage of their superior intelligence and began to organize on a bigger scale.  The process started about 70,000 years ago

Agricultural Revolution began about 12,000 years ago and allowed for concentrations of people and specialization.   Writing, invented by Sumerians 5,000 years ago allowed elites to control larger numbers of people and it might be said started data processing.

The Science Revolution started around 1500 and was initiated by the awareness of our ignorance.  Today we realize there is so much we don't know, but we are progressing at ever accelerating rates.

Trust is another key to success.  The best example is the credit system which has enabled economic expansion that has benefited everyone.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/are-you-trustworthy.html

DNA analysis is now available and becoming more affordable.  At this stage is often used to determine disease probabilities.  Manipulating genes is well established and likely to be fine-tuned.

The big question for me is free will.  The author cites several examples that demonstrate there is something behind every action.  Where do desires come from?  My advice is that to live the best life you must use whatever resources are available and take responsibility for every decision.  Yuval points out that Buddhist thinking is that cravings always lead to suffering.

We are all algorithms and we can easily be replaced.

Yuval point out that Google and Facebook know more about us that many people with whom we socialize.  Dataism is a new religion that will take over the world.  Anything that can be measured (they believe that is everything) can be used to make decisions.  It is likely that a very small elite would emerge in power while the rest of us for practical purposes would be thought of as useless.

The author admits nobody knows what the future will bring, but after laying out some possibilities he leaves us with three questions that will decide the future of humankind.

1.  Are organisms really just algorithms and is life really just data processing?
2.  What is more valuable--intelligence or consciousness?
3.  What will happen to society, politics and daily life when non-conscious, but highly intelligent
algorithms know us better than we know ourselves?

The two of his books I have read have been amongst the most profound ever.  To learn more about Yuval Noah Harari, visit http://www.ynharari.com

THE ART OF CHOOSING AS SEEN BY SHEENA IYENGAR

Sheena Iyengar appeared on Fareed Zakaria's tv show" GPS" and got my attention. The subconscious mind programs the majority of our decisions.  This past two years have presented me with many book versions of this theme.

In her book, "The Art of Choosing" Sheena uses mute animals to make a point.  In a zoo, animals are fed and sheltered with no need to be anxious.  They also have no need to choose.  In their natural state animals make a lot of choices and strive to be safe. In zoos with a lack of choice their longevity and fertility are negatively affected.  Studies have shown that when people are given choices that let them control parts of their lives they react positively.

Sheena Iyengar (who is blind, but does indeed have strong visualization skills) spends a lot of her book demonstrating that the subconscious which she labels "automatic" does control a lot of our decisions that we are totally unaware of.  She points out that our "reflective" conscious mind does have some control.  Our mind has developed short cuts that automatically make decisions in a seamless manner.  We can become aware of many of these shortcuts, but it is a continual battle.

The idea of "choice" has a cultural context.  In the western world, particularly the United States it is something that is precious and the more choices we have the better.  The author makes a point going back to her parents' Sikh wedding which was ritualized and most critically, arranged.  Most in Western culture think choosing marriage partners for love is the superior way, but some studies have shown that in fact arranged marriages can have happier outcomes than romantic choices.

At another stage she points out life and death decisions have shifted in our culture from an authoritarian expert  (eg doctor) to those most directly involved.  There is regret on all sides for painful decisions, but some people are comforted that it wasn't their decision.  In fact in lots of matters we defer our decisions to experts because we are confused and/or don't want the responsibility.  Fashion is one example she brings up with a multitude of colors chosen by "experts".

In our choices we will automatically have many made for us, but we can choose which decisions we want to reflect on.  For some choices we might want to rely on the advice of a trusted contact.  An example given on the tv show was that Barrack Obama has elected to simplify his choice of what suit to wear by limiting it to two, one black and one blue.  Saves his energy for more important decisions.

The number 7 is a critical point in that we can usually handle up to 7 items to choose from, but beyond that we have difficulties in weighing options particularly if they are very similar.  Giving a consumer too many choices can actually cut sales or prolong restaurant selections.

Sheena recognizes that we can apply science (in the sense of using our reasoning powers) to our most important decisions, but in fact we have to decide where we want to make the effort.  That is where the art comes in.  One problem we now have is that there are so many desirable choices that we regret even a good choice that might have been even better.  We also can spend so much time sorting through options that we lose time to enjoy our choice.

I am conscious that I seem attracted to books that deal with how the subconscious mechanisms control us and inflict a good number of those on readers willing to put up with them.  An underlying concern is free will--do we actually have any?  An elusive question, but I like to think that writers like Sheena Iyengar  give us tools to exercise free will.

You can watch Dr Sheena Iyengar with a presentation on TED http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html

THE POWER OF HABIT

There have been a series of books recently on my reading list that impinge territory covered by The Power of Habit and they all reinforce one another.  Perhaps that indicates I only read books that bolster my own thinking or that I am obsessed with a narrow field of thought.  Or maybe it is just a habit.

We are all slaves to our habits.  Or you could say habits free us to do really important stuff.  Habits operate from our subconscious mind meaning we don't think about them nearly as much as we just live them.  The beauty of the human brain is that we do most of what we do on auto-pilot, but are amazingly unaware of that.

The sub conscious allows us to survive.  We are able to interpret and react to many details without really being aware of them.  Our mind can automate much of what we have to do. The basic concept of a habit is something we do without conscious thinking after we are presented with a cue and before we get an anticipated reward.  To really entrench a habit there is usually a craving for the activity.

We are not conscious of most of our habits.  We have countless habits that take up much of our day. Although we can't identify many of our own habits other people can.  One example given has to do with hit music and how to manipulate our tastes.  Another example comes from Target, a major retail chain who wanted to determine prospective customers who were pregnant.  They used a huge data base to discover buying habits of pregnant women and refined it so they could get an early read which would allow them to direct more buyers into their stores.  This was so sophisticated that sometimes the women (or their families) were unaware of the pregnancy.

The author provides two case studies of social movements tying themselves to habits to grow.  One is Rosa Parks who refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery which led to a dramatic upswing in the civil rights movement.  Another is the Saddleback Church that grew to a very wide membership.

We are all conscious that we have bad habits that hurt us and would like an easy way to change them.  Essentially that is my motive for reading the book.  Unfortunately bad habits are just as automatic as our good habits.

Charles Duhigg maintains you cannot break a habit, only replace it with something stronger.  The first step is to identify the routine needing to be replaced and then experiment with rewards to determine what is the motivation.  Then you have to isolate the cue.  Five cues are suggested:  location, time, emotional state, other people, and immediately preceding action.  Record and study the possibilities and then develop a plan.  Although it is much easier said than done this is an effective method to replace any habit.

Aristotle is quoted to good effect, "just as a piece of land is to be prepared beforehand if it is to nourish the seed, so the mind of the pupil has to be prepared in its habits if it is to enjoy and dislike the right things."

Free will occurs when you are consciously able to alter your habits.  Or when you rise above your habits and use your conscious mind to make better decisions.

To learn more about Charles Duhigg, visit his website at http://charlesduhigg.com/

"YOU ARE NOT SO SMART" by Derek McRaney

I learned about the book from a Twitter reference and then learned about the website. It has an underlying premise that I have encountered in a number of other books that the unconscious brain has a lot more control of your "conscious" decisions than you are conscious of.

Derek McRaney breaks it down in the book to 48 misconceptions and demonstrates the underlying reason for these misconceptions. Basically your brain uses short cuts. We are forced to make countless minute decisions every day (or every hour for that matter) and could be paralyzed without some easier (evolution tested) way to simplify matters.

Free will is an abstract concept that Derek refers to towards the end of each chapter suggesting the more you understand of what you don't understand the better your choices.

It is not my intention to cover every misconception, but a few stood out in my mind.

The human brain has a deep desire to be right all the time. Often you have to stretch to achieve this result. Amazingly facts fade and get distorted to fit the current viewpoint.

One quote in the middle from Charles Darwin, "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." David, without disagreeing with Darwin would suggest knowledge might help you make better decisions.

A theme in one chapter is about learned helplessness. Studies have been done in nursing homes, prisons and homeless shelters comparing situations where little details are taken care of by staff to where the inmates are given some responsibilities. Choice makes people happier.

The human mind seeks meaning in random events. McRaney takes a dig at the idea of a soul mate. Carl Sagan, the example he uses was very happy to share this planet with his wife, but knew it was not fate.

A lot of experiments have been done on first impressions. Unfortunately they are hard to overcome. A similar theme is anchoring where your judgment can be affected by objects or ideas presented prior to a particular decision. Associations that can be made deliberate can also affect your judgment.

Procrasination is a normal phenomenon. You need to outsmart your brain with such things as prompts, positive associations, other people to remind you and do not rely on your will power.

He points out that using groups to develop new ideas is fraught with danger. The key really is to convince everyone there are not negative consequences to expressing their real thoughts. The problem is aggravated if the group contains anyone with the ability to fire the others. Another danger in groups is that many individuals loaf relying on others to speak and do the hard thinking.

One practical bit of advice is that venting can actually increase your anger. It has been proven that a better strategy is to take a deep breath. Often, as an example when someone vents their frustration on a punching bag their anger rises to a higher level.

I would recommend this book. As humans try to understand the world, they need also to understand themselves. To get a more up to date perspective on David McRaney's thinking check his website: http://youarenotsosmart.com/