![]() ![]() Keep this in mind the next time you start to doubt whether we can solve a global problem like climate change. The point is that today’s competition among nations-whether on an athletic field or the trading floor-“actually represents an astonishing global agreement.” And that global agreement makes it easier to cooperate as well as compete. No one even has a flag to fly or anthem to play at the awards ceremony. The Chinese Song Empire doesn’t think any other political entity in the world is even close to being its equal. Asians, Africans and Europeans don’t know that the Americas exist. Imagine, he says, trying to organize an Olympic Games in 1016. ![]() He deploys, for example, a clever thought experiment to underscore how far humans have come in creating a global civilization. He’s more interested in defining the terms of the discussion and giving you historical and philosophical perspective. Although you will find a few concrete lessons scattered throughout, Harari mostly resists handy prescriptions. There are chapters on work, war, nationalism, religion, immigration, education, and 15 other weighty matters. These are admittedly big questions, and this is a sweeping book. ![]() As he writes in his introduction: “What are today’s greatest challenges and most important changes? What should we pay attention to? What should we teach our kids?” It’s to know which things to worry about, and how much to worry about them. The trick for putting an end to our anxieties, he suggests, is not to stop worrying. While his previous best sellers, Sapiens and Homo Deus, covered the past and future respectively, his new book is all about the present. In his fascinating new book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the historian Yuval Noah Harari creates a useful framework for confronting these fears. Although most of us don’t need to lose too much sleep over bears these days, modern life does present plenty of other reasons for concern: terrorism, climate change, the rise of A.I., encroachments on our privacy, even the apparent decline of international cooperation. This is not necessarily a bad thing-after all, if a bear is stalking you, worrying about it may well save your life. ![]()
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