Techno-Religions and Silicon Prophets: Will the 21st century be shaped by hi-tech gurus or by religious zealots – or are they the same thing? What is the current status of religions and ideologies in the world, and what will be the likely impact of 21st-century technological breakthroughs on religion and ideology? Will traditional religions and ideologies—from Christianity and Islam to Liberalism and Socialism—manage to survive the technological and economic revolutions of the 21st century? What would be the place of Islam, for example, in a world of genetic engineering and artificial intelligence? The talk addresses these questions, and argues that the future belongs to techno-religions, which promise salvation through technology, and which are already gathering believers in places such as Silicon Valley. About the Author Prof. Yuval Noah Harari lectures at the Department of History, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in World History, medieval history and military history. His current research focuses on macro-historical questions: What is the relation between history and biology? Is there justice in history? Did people become happier as history unfolded? His most recent book is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. The book surveys the entire length of human history, from the evolution of Homo sapiens in the Stone Age up to the political and technological revolutions of the Silicon Age. It has become an international bestseller, and has been translated into close to 30 languages worldwide. For more details see www.ynharari.com

Comments

1. I don't think, the new religion he talks about will not take over the world... because it doesn't feel good.
2. my inner voice says never trust a silicon valley ceo
3. Google is our new God?
4. Just like classical breaks down, so does our "algorithmic" pile of chemistry. Perhaps Harari will adopt the cutting edge of consciousness studies being done by Bandyopadhyay and Hameroff?
5. Eine Horrorvorstellung - von hi-tech gurus geleitet zu werden - das Ende eines mündigen freien Bürgers.
6. what is "idear"??? it's called IDEA, not idear
7. i think this man needs to be recognized by all humans asap....
8. Silicon Valley will be the next Jerusalem.
9. If you've surrendered to letting Waze tell you where to drive because you realize it knows more about the state of traffic than you possibly ever could, it is just incremental steps and the accumulation of data before love and career enter the same domain.
10. patriarchy arrived the moment money/currency was invented.
11. There are more high IQ men than women, and stupid men can still be expended in combat. The old have the advantage of experience. Intelligence is man's defining virtue. It's obviously the reason humans are patriarchal.
12. "Emotions are just bio-chemical algorithms calculating either probabilities of survival or probabilities of reproduction." +1
13. wow...
14. This is fascinating. Human history described with such a neutral and disenchanted view ... Hope to see Harari for a talk in Paris soon !
15. He is asking very important questions about organised religions, and about their contributions to humanity.
16. Brilliant!
17. this man has a great insight into the nature of human and how our social system works. unbelievable but quite persuasive！
18. Some of the comments here are horrifyingly stupid, beyond repair primitive and lacking the basic ability to comprehend what is being said. Why do people THIS dumb bother watching videos such as this?
19. re consciousness and data: i think there is no essential difference between data and consciousness in the sense that the notion of consciousness seems to be an emergent property so to speak of algorithmic data constructs -- imbuing the perception of "consciousness". its not as though the sense of consciousness exists in a vacuum.
20. I love this man. True educator