Book review: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

The first book I read by Harari, I made the "mistake" of starting with it, instead of the more acclaimed Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. To be honest, I am hesitant to call it a mistake as I enjoyed this book more than Sapiens. The reasons for this are varied, but I will make an effort to list some of them below.

The scope of the book

The scope of the book is somewhat narrower than Sapiens, only briefly skimming through the history of humanity and then delving into different hypotheses of what the future may hold. What made the book an enjoyable read was the sometimes outlandish freedom with which it strove to explore the possibilities of what tomorrow may bring. These possibilities are accurately described with all their shortcomings and even potentially disastrous outcomes. An omnipresent theme in the book is to never take what is said at face value and always understand that it is, after all, speculation. While the author does their best to avoid pure conjecture and unsubstantiated guesses, some readers might find the scope of the inquisitiveness in the book somewhat irritating at times. I say this frankly, as I found myself on occasion feeling the same way, smiling and shaking my head at the bold predictions manifested in the book. Do not get discouraged, however, as at the end of the day, Harari manages to reign in speculation and present valuable context that paints a clearer picture of human socio-behavioral history that one would seldom find elsewhere. Everything clicks together when it is looked at with an inquisitive and genuinely curious eye. This brings me to the second part of why this wild ride of a book is one of my favorites of all time.

The subject matter

The subject matter would seem to be the most important part of any book. Why would I put it second here? It's simple - the matter-of-fact style of writing that Harari possesses, irrespective of the topic at hand, makes any of his books a worthwhile read. The lack of political correctness in expressing his stance on otherwise touchy topics makes him, in my view, one of the foremost thinkers and writers of our time.

In summary

This is a rather short review, but I feel I have expressed my thoughts on this book without giving much away. I will do something different this time - I will not recommend this book if you aren't willing to cut Harari some slack for taking certain freedoms in making educated guesses about the future. If you are the type who works purely with facts, you may find the book more irritating than enriching. For those that are willing to turn a blind eye to some of the more outlandish takes, I strongly recommend giving the book a shot.