How To Future-Proof Our Lives: Author Yuval Harari’s Guide To Surviving The Modern Age

 

• Don’t let technology take over: Look at the day-to-day decisions you make, the amount of time you spend online or on your phone, and the way technology is merging with and controlling your life. Use technology for your purposes and do not allow yourself to be used by it
• Bring tech to the table: Industrial agriculture damages the environment and causes suffering to billions of animals each year. Instead of giving up dairy or meat, there may be a technological solution — meat cells grown in cultures, 3D-printed meat and dairy products. Research in this area is vital
• Don’t get left behind: The technological revolution is like the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. China missed out then and took 150 years to catch up. Those who lead the way with biotechnology and computer science today will be the rulers of tomorrow
• Don’t panic, think big: Remain curious and open about the future — the minute you become emotional, scared or pessimistic about it, you lose some of the ability to see what’s happening and what the possibilities are
• Know yourself: Real happiness is not feeling pleasant sensations all the time or searching for meaning (there is none). It is knowing the truth about yourself, so that you are no longer enslaved by illusions, myths and your body’s biochemical cravings
• Think globally: We live in a global community and need our visions for the future to match this. Too much of our education is narrow and parochial
• You can’t fake zen: Meditation and mindfulness have become very trendy, but we must be extremely careful how we use these techniques. The point is to stop the rat race, not to use meditation to run even faster

– from ‘The seer of Silicon Valley: Yuval Noah Harari’, Josh Glancy, The Sunday Times, 21 Aug 2016