Philosopher, historian and bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari regularly travels to India to practice Vipassana. “If not for meditation, I’d still be researching medieval military history and not talking about Neanderthals and cyborgs,” he shared during an absorbing session at the Times Litfest 2023. “The key thing when writing big history is the ability to focus. You need clarity of mind, and meditation provided me with this kind of clarity.”
When it comes to making sense of our world today, Harari’s is among the most insightful and perspicuous voices. On history, for example, the Israeli author is able to slice through the din of polarised debates and focus on what’s important. “The point about history is that it is not the past; history is the study of change. History should be relevant to how we live today, to the questions that concern us right now,” he explained.
“We are shaped by history, and I mean this in the most intimate and daily way – everything that we feel, that we hope, that we fear, comes from history.”
And history, Harari feels, must be taught in such a way as to engage with the student. “If you ask a question like, ‘Why is it that in most countries men dominate women, and in so many countries women don’t get opportunities?’ and you start studying the mythologies and systems, you will find that everybody is very, very interested. If you want to understand why this is so, you need to study history.”
He also held forth on the evolutionary consequences of interbreeding between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. And on the dangers of social media, and the role new technologies like artificial intelligence and big data play in manipulating and controlling us. “I’m more worried about the dangers of natural stupidity than of artificial intelligence,” he said. “We already know that AI can pick up racism and homophobia and misogyny, from the data it is trained on – so, yes, it can learn from our natural stupidity.”
Technology also ends up skewing our priorities and distorting our yearning for acceptance and validation. “Being valued doesn’t depend on how many followers you have, or how much money is lying in your account,” cautioned Harari.
Ultimately, he stressed, little can be achieved without collaboration. “The human superpower is the ability to cooperate,” he said, holding out hope for the future.
The Times Litfest Delhi, presented by Rajnigandha, is being held on February 11 & 12, at Siri Fort Auditorium, August Kranti Marg. Entry is free. Guests to enter venue through gate numbers 2 and 4.
