Author of quotes: Yuval Noah Harari



Once a wise old man was asked what he understood about the meaning of life. “You know,” he replied, “I realized that I came to this earth to help other people. But I can’t understand why other people are here.”
№ 454824   Added MegaMozg 08-07-2023 / 09:45
Why do we need people? For now, our best solution is to make them happy with drugs and computer games.
№ 454823   Added MegaMozg 08-07-2023 / 09:36
If in traditional religions the great cosmic plan gave meaning to human life, then humanism makes a castling, believing that human life experience will give meaning to the cosmos. According to the humanistic idea, people should draw from their impressions and experiences not only the meaning of their own lives, but also the meaning of the entire Universe. This is the first commandment of humanism: fill the meaningless world with meaning. The main religious revolution of our time consisted not in the loss of faith in God, but in the acquisition of faith in man. It took centuries of serious effort. Thinkers wrote pamphlets, creators wrote poems and symphonies, politicians made deals - and all together they convinced humanity that it was capable of giving meaning to the universe.
№ 407990   Added MegaMozg 02-12-2020 / 17:15
In assessing the scale of our victories, we must remember that history abhors a vacuum. If famine, pestilence, and war recede into the background, something else must take their place on our agenda.
№ 407989   Added MegaMozg 02-12-2020 / 17:12
Recognition of our success fills with hope and a sense of responsibility, encouraging us to do more. If, despite all the achievements of the 20th century, people will continue to suffer from hunger, pestilence and war, it would be a sin for us to blame nature or God for this. We are in a position to make a difference and significantly reduce the number of disadvantaged people.
№ 407988   Added MegaMozg 02-12-2020 / 17:09
If we want to effectively confront terrorism in the first place we should understand that terrorists can't win. However, we can apply self defeat themselves by excessive and unreasonable reaction to their provocations.
Above all, if we want to combat terrorism effectively we must realise that nothing the terrorists do can defeat us. We are the only ones who can defeat ourselves, if we overreact in a misguided way to terrorist provocations the.
Quote Explanation: The author shows the weakness and political bankruptcy of terrorists.
№ 377900   Added MegaMozg 06-09-2019 / 19:39
The terrorists set themselves an impossible task without the army, through violence to change the political balance of forces. To achieve the goal they oblige the state also to set ourselves an impossible task to protect all citizens from political violence, at any time and in any place. The terrorists hope that when the government attempts to fulfill its promise, it will mix political maps and in their hands will suddenly be an ACE.
Terrorists undertake an impossible mission: to change the political balance of power through violence, despite having no army. To achieve their aim, terrorists present the state with an impossible challenge of their own: to prove that it can protect all its citizens from political violence, anywhere, any time. The terrorists hope that when the state tries to fulfil this impossible mission, it will reshuffle the political cards, and hand them some unforeseen ace.
Quote Explanation: The author talks about the strategic game of terrorism vs the government.
№ 377898   Added MegaMozg 06-09-2019 / 19:33
Deep down we understand that terrorism is theatre, and therefore first assess his emotional, rather than material impact.
Because we intuitively understand that terrorism is theatre, we judge it by its emotional rather than material impact.
Quote Explanation: The author tries to explain the reasons why society allows the government to spend big money to fight terrorism, although the damage is in the hundreds of thousands of times less than from cancer.
№ 377897   Added MegaMozg 06-09-2019 / 19:30
The fallacy of the analogy between history and biology that underlie the thesis of a "clash of civilizations". Human groups, from small tribes to large civilizations are fundamentally different from animals, and historical conflicts it was nothing like the mechanisms of natural selection.
Groups of people may belong to different social systems, but such systems are not genetically determined and there are rarely more than a few centuries.
The analogy between history and biology that underpins the ‘clash of civilisations’ thesis is false. Human groups - all the way from small tribes to huge civilisations - are fundamentally different from animal species, and historical conflicts greatly differ from natural selection processes.
Human groups may have distinct social systems, but these are not genetically determined, and they seldom endure for more than a few centuries.
Quote Explanation: The thesis of the clash of civilizations that different parts of people are divided biologically or culturally so, inevitably clash. And a strong culture must kill the weak. The author believes that this thesis is not wealthy.
№ 377893   Added MegaMozg 06-09-2019 / 19:18
But even if you hide your sexual orientation from yourself and friends, you will not be able to hide it from Amazon, Alibaba or the secret police. While you surf the Internet, watch YouTube or flipping through social networks, the algorithm will closely follow you to learn you and to tell Coca-Cola that if she wants to sell you your drinks, it is better to use advertising with half-naked guy and not the Topless girl. You yourself do not even know. But they will know, and the value of such information will amount to billions.
Even if you do, and even if you keep hiding from yourself and your are high school classmates, you won't be able to hide from Amazon, Alibaba or the secret police. As you surf the Web, watch YouTube or read your social media feed, the algorithms will discreetly monitor you, analyse you and tell Coca-Cola that if it wants to sell you some fizzy drink, it had better use the advertisement with the shirtless guy rather than the girl shirtless. You won't even know. But they will know, and such information will be worth billions
Quote Explanation: In the future, according to the author, the computer software will capture the feelings and emotions of people. A secret intimate features of an individual will be for the Internet holdings of open data.
№ 377732   Added MegaMozg 04-09-2019 / 11:52
But even if you hide your sexual orientation from yourself and friends, you will not be able to hide it from Amazon, Alibaba or the secret police. While you surf the Internet, watch YouTube or flipping through social networks, the algorithm will closely follow you to learn you and to tell Coca-Cola that if she wants to sell you your drinks, it is better to use advertising with half-naked guy and not the Topless girl. You yourself do not even know. But they will know, and the value of such information will amount to billions.
Even if you do, and even if you keep hiding from yourself and your are high school classmates, you won't be able to hide from Amazon, Alibaba or the secret police. As you surf the Web, watch YouTube or read your social media feed, the algorithms will discreetly monitor you, analyse you and tell Coca-Cola that if it wants to sell you some fizzy drink, it had better use the advertisement with the shirtless guy rather than the girl shirtless. You won't even know. But they will know, and such information will be worth billions
Quote Explanation: In the future, according to the author, the computer software will capture the feelings and emotions of people. A secret intimate features of an individual will be for the Internet holdings of open data.
№ 377729   Added Viker 04-09-2019 / 11:52
Most people have bad knows. I myself am only at 21, after years of denial, finally realized that I was gay. And my case is no exception. In adolescence, many gays are questioning their sexual orientation.
Most people don't know themselves very well. When I was twenty-one, I finally realised that I was gay, after several years of living in denial. That's hardly exceptional. Many gay men spend their entire teenage years are unsure about their sexuality.
Quote Explanation: The author makes another coming out in the pages of the book
№ 377728   Added Viker 04-09-2019 / 11:51
When I publish a book, publishers are asking me to attach a short description, which they will use for advertising on the Internet. But they have an expert who can adapt my text to match the preferences of the Google algorithm. This person carefully reads what I wrote and said: "do Not use this word replace it with that. So we will have more chances to attract the attention of the search algorithm". We know that if we can get into the field of view of the algorithm, the number of readers to care.
I know this from personal experience. When I publish a book, the publishers ask me to write a short description that they use for online publicity. But they have a special expert who adapts what I write to the taste of the Google algorithm. The expert goes over my text, and says ‘Don't use this word - use that word instead. Then we will get more attention from the Google algorithm.’ We know that if we can just catch the eye of the algorithm, we can take the humans for granted.
Quote Explanation: The author's personal experience demonstrates that not only people operate the machines, but sometimes people already under podstavitsya robots.
№ 377727   Added Viker 04-09-2019 / 11:51
Often the relationship between physical strength and social position - not straight, but the opposite. In most societies, manual labor falls on the lower classes. Miners, soldiers, slaves, Housewives, cleaners muscles are more important than kings, priests, CEOs, judges and generals.
Quote Explanation: The head of the "muscle Power". The author demonstrates that the muscles do not affect the position in the hierarchy.
№ 314280   Added MegaMozg 14-01-2018 / 19:03
We believe in a particular order not because it coincides with objective truth, but because this belief allows us to communicate effectively and to transform society for the better.
Quote Explanation: The head of the "Imaginary order". In it the author argues the thesis that all ideological doctrine is a myth, not based on the fundamental laws of nature. However, the use of ideologies allows people to interact with each other.
№ 314279   Added MegaMozg 14-01-2018 / 19:02