A Brief History of Tomorrow - Book Review of Homo Deus

If you want a book to play on your mind, long after you have completed reading it, may be Homo Deus : A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari will fit the brief perfectly. I had read Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind by the same author last year and had reviewed it here. 

Homo Deus is a follow-up book to Sapiens. But don't worry if you haven't read the earlier one, though I strongly recommend it. The author makes concrete efforts to provide all the key concepts of Sapiens in a succinct manner in the first few chapters of this book. And then also links those concepts with his hypothesis for this book. The book in itself is thrilling, exciting, scary and a fast read. While reading Sapiens, I was overwhelmed with the way the author made history, simple and fun. He interpreted history in a modern milieu that connected with me. But this time, while reading Homo Deus, I discovered the story-teller in him. I noticed his wit and dark humor. I was impressed by his knowledge on subjects so varied. I was overwhelmed by his fertile imagination, (which might be just a biological algorithm) and yet a rooted narrative and his ability to make far fetched things sound reasonable. As a reader, whether you agree with his theories or not; the examples, parables and anecdotes he puts forth in support of his theories can't be disagreed with. 

This book is not for the weak hearts. Sapiens made me feel good because it told us that in our human history we are placed much better than our ancestors. Homo Deus is scary because author's imagined future (high probability of being a reality) is a death knell for Homo Sapiens, especially the ones who don't have tons of money (62 people in the world have half the wealth of the world) or who don't have a talent which can't be converted into algorithms. Apparently, the art forms like music and paintings which we so strongly believe, reflect pinnacle of human glory, would be produced perfectly in near future by machines and Artificial Intelligence. 

In The Matrix, the science fiction film that released in 1999, the film-makers showed a dystopian  future where machines would lord over the humans. The only purpose of humans in that imagined future would be to provide energy to run those machines. Neo (the lead protagonist played by Keanu Reeves) is 'the One', who provides hope for the humanity.  

Yuval Noah Harari just stops short of stating the horrors shown in the film. But he clearly states that as humans were able to create imagined realities and mass cooperation networks, they emerged as superior beings to other animals. This enabled them to lord over animals. He is critical of how we treat the animals for our needs. Drawing a parallel to this, he imagines when data and algorithms would emerge as far superior entities than human beings, why those entities wouldn't treat us humans the same way, we treat animals!

I love the way author explains how our religions and Gods have changed throughout our history. The book looks at growth and spread of different religions (his definition of what is a religion needs to be agreed upon though) - animistic to theist to modern '-isms'  (like capitalism, liberalism, communism, socialism. humanism etc.) leading to dataism. I also particularly like the chapters, where he explains how science so far has been able to solve the problems of war, plague and famine. But the future agenda would be to provide humans with immortality, happiness and divinity. This might lead to emergence of super human beings (Homo Deus) who will not have much use for the useless Homo Sapiens.

There is a funny part titled, A Brief History of Lawns, in one of the earlier chapters, wherein he clearly indicates that we have a choice to make today. Our choices can change the course of tomorrow.  Clearly there is no 'Neo' who would be our savior. 

Facts & Videos - January Reads

Last year I read 21 books against a plan of 24. So this year again, I will try to reach that elusive number of 24. I am happy to report that the year has started on a bright note and I have completed two books in January, both of them non-fiction. Interestingly, both of them are also directly relevant to my line of work. But most importantly, each book has a unique perspective on things which are happening today, in front of us. 

First book that I read is interestingly titled, 'Factfulness' by Hans Rosling. The tagline in the book title reads, "Ten Reasons we're Wrong About the World - And Why Things are Better Than You Think." That is a great hook. Though this book is not as deep or as profound as Sapiens written by Yuval Noah Harari (read my views on the book Sapiens here); in a way the souls of both books are connected. Both books tell us how our world is in a better place than we imagine. Sapiens relies on historical / archaeological evidence to make its case, while Factfulness makes us question our basic human instincts and biases, that blind us towards any data or facts or trends, contrary to our dominant thinking. 

The author warns us about ten such human instincts and suggests methods to overcome those while making any assessment or forming any opinion. As certain instincts resemble each other, you might find book to be repetitive at times, especially in the first few chapters. 

Also while the book deals with the subject of numbers / data / facts, it is still an easy read for everyone because the book's narrative is in the form of a story and is replete with relevant examples and visual aids. So while it is a good read for people who work with numbers, it is great for those who don't.

The second book is interesting and flawed at the same time. Videocracy by Kevin Allocca (YouTube's Head of Culture and Trends) is an interesting book because it talks about videos on YouTube and builds a context around them by explaining what makes YouTube a big deal for everyone in this universe. It is a flawed book because at times it sounds like a propaganda and a hard-sell. The book conveniently ignores the aspects related to moderation, privacy, consent, intellectual property and negative content - especially hate videos. It almost justifies cyber-bullying by citing the larger good. The book pompously suggests that everyone in this universe will rely on video content to know about humanity and culture and thus there is no other way to assimilate knowledge or learn. Now let me focus on my takeaways and the good bits.

The author tries to establish three things in this book:

1. The power to make a piece of content or a video (art?) successful or viral has shifted towards users /  viewers / communities. They are the ones who are shaping the changes on YouTube and the role of  content itself. 

2. Celebrities - Fans equation is changing and is more of a relationship of equals now, due to diminishing distance between them through platforms like YouTube.

3. Most of the organically successful videos on YouTube are expression of self identity of the creator as well as of the viewers who made them successful. This concept is then linked to the rise of huge number of niche art forms and niche communities on YouTube. 

There are several other takeaways in the book, but these three resonated with me the most. 

Initial parts of the book were repetitive and exhausting as the subject matter isn't classified properly in chapters. Also most of the video references given to explain the points were US based and I either had to look them up or make some assumptions, which made it a slower reading experience. But the chapters on how marketing ads changed their nature due to YouTube or how YouTube changed lives,  due to its content related to learning (example 'How to' videos) and political discourse (example Arab Spring) appealed to me. 

The last part of the book warns us of the pitfalls of what we share, view or believe. But it is not enough!

Both books made me think and that is a win. Next on cards is Yuval Noah Harari's follow-up book to Sapiens - Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Keep watching this space to know about it. Happy Reading!

...and he is 2

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." - A quote by Phyllis Diller, an American actress and a stand up comedian who had 6 children. 

21st December 2016 : My son Meharaj was born in Mumbai. I used to work in Mumbai then.

21st December 2017 : We celebrated his first birthday in Ludhiana. That is where his grandparents and our extended families live. I wrote about it here. 

21st December 2018 : We celebrated his second birthday in New Delhi. I had to travel regarding my work to New Delhi and didn't want to be away from him on this day, so I took him and my wife along with me. My mother and brother traveled all the way from Ludhiana to meet him in Delhi and we had a mini celebration. 

He has a sweet tooth, clearly.

He stays and goes to a playschool, in Chennai. And he had his first international vacation in Mauritius in November last year. Interestingly, he is a very well behaved child in flights, so far. Touch-wood! Because on ground he is unrestrained, putting it mildly. 

So he has in all probability, clocked more miles in 2 years than I did in first decade of my life. He has stayed in multiple cities and is exposed to many languages - English, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Marathi. His parents don't know the last two. He is truly growing up in a multi-cultural environment. This is an exciting and a scary thought at the same time. 

Since I last wrote about him in this post, he has added few more words to his vocabulary. Though other children of his age speak many more words and more complex words too, he compensates for this lack of vocabulary with his exaggerated body language. Each word he has learned is always accompanied with a gesture. He keeps saying "Bye" to people in a musical way and with a wave of his hand. He looks really cute doing it. Then he has learned two words in Punjabi, "Bas" (stop or that's it) accompanied with a show of hand like a traffic cop and "Kitthe" (where) along with an upward nod of his face, as if questioning me. For him every bird is a crow. He sees a bird and he shouts happily, "K(r)owww," with the 'r' remaining silent. At times, he points towards himself and will keep repeating, "Baby" in his babbieee sound. While he learned the word "Papa" very early (in fact it was the first word he ever uttered), he still just keeps saying it without necessarily calling me out. Though when his mom asks to give his "Papa" something, he knows where to go. He doesn't say Mama or Mummy and surprisingly calls his mother "Paapi" or "Papi". But his favorite phrase is actually gibberish. He even keeps blabbering it in his sleep. "Kunte-Kunte". Guess what we were trying to teach him! "Chhotte-Chhotte." (Little-Little)

He has also learned to throw a tantrum and knows how to get things done. He is a really active child and can shake his legs in a clumsy manner when you ask him to dance. He keeps climbing on things and people without fear of falling. He likes to eat only while playing with my shoes. He likes to walk in them. He raids the refrigerator for chocolates or dates every time he gets a chance. When I reach home, he asks me to pick him up and then he would keep my pen, my watch and my wallet in the cupboard. The day I forget this ritual, he starts whining. He has now a complete set of teeth, with which he can give you the brightest smile or he can bite your fingers off. When he makes a mistake and he knows it, he will blink both his eyes in a way that you will be forced to kiss him or hug him.

I like my home to be clean and like my things to be at the right places. But Meharaj is not like that. He likes mess. He loves chaos. He throws toys, food, water, remotes, keys, creams, pillows, or anything which he can hold in his hands on the floor, on the bed, under the bed and inside the shower. I was too naive to think that I can keep my house in order. I have given up! I think I have finally learned to 'Let go'. I love him.