Noah Yuval Harari (Photo: SELCUK BULENT / SIPA / Isopix)
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‘Chances are that when we look back at this period within 50 years, we don’t think so much about the coronavirus, as about the moment when we started being massively controlled by our governments.‘
So says the Israeli thinker Yuval Noah Harari, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País. Harari was a guest in the Antwerp Lotto arena at the beginning of this year. He addressed more than 5,000 people there an event organized by our sister magazine Newsweek.
According to this Jewish philosopher, the greatest danger of Covid-19 is not medical, but economic and political. ‘The consequences of the pandemic can last for years and cause entire regions to collapse, such as South America. They can also ensure the breakthrough of new surveillance technology. ‘
Harari especially fears the breakthrough of biometricsthat not only allows us to know where we are going and with whom we are interacting, but also allows us to see inside our body. By measuring our blood pressure, our heart rate and our brain activity.
‘A form of social control that totalitarian regimes have been fantasizing about for years’
‘If the government and tech companies know us better than we know ourselves, they can dissect our emotions, thoughts and personality. Then they have a form of social control that totalitarian regimes have been fantasizing about for years. ‘
Harari spoke to Spanish newspaper on the occasion of the publication of the ‘Sapiens’ comic. The book itself has now been translated into 60 languages and has been sold 16 million times. But according to the Israeli, it is time to switch to a different format. ‘To get difficult matters explained in a simple way’.
The comic book Sapiens was designed in collaboration with the Belgian artist David Vandermeulen and his French colleague Daniel Casanave. Harari is the main character who guides his niece Zoë through history. The book has 246 pages and is therefore considerably thicker than an average comic book.
‘Scientists need more means of communication to get to people’
‘This type of presentation is more accessible and fun,’ says Harari. ‘In times of pandemic, it is extremely important that we make the effort to pass on the technological knowledge to the general public in order to nip any conspiracy theory in the bud. Science is often difficult to explain and, meanwhile, rumors are circulating that Bill Gates developed the virus in a lab to control the world. Scientists need more means of communication to get to the people. ‘
‘We need to reinvent democracy and the economic system’
Harari does not speak out about the future, but thinks it is high time new political structures to develop.
In his book in ‘21 questions for the 21st centuryHarari wrote all that politicians understand much less about the world than they like to think and make it appear. They are also ignorant of its complexity. This has a series of consequences, as is now coming to light.
‘Technological progress means that the current system is outdated. The existing political and economic structures were designed when this technology did not exist. We need to reinvent democracy and the economic system. We should not hold on to existing laws. We must try to reduce suffering in the world, which is a universal biological phenomenon. Resources change because circumstances change. I don’t know what will happen in the next 100 years. But hopefully there will be a new political system that will free people from their suffering. ‘
Harari also advocates international cooperation in the medical field. ‘Anyone who wants to adopt a patriotic attitude during a pandemic must advocate solid healthcare and pay their taxes. “Presidents who are millionaires who pay $ 750 in taxes annually are not patriots,” the Israeli concludes. A clear sneer at US President Trump, who according to recently at the New York Times information leaked in recent years, each time that amount has been transferred to the treasury.
Source: BusinessAM
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