21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari discusses the future of humanity, including problems we face now and those that will need to be addressed in the future. The 21 lessons are introduced in 21 chapters discussing topics ranging from immigration to biotechnology and everything in between. The 21 chapters are divided into five parts: The Technological Challenge, The Political Challenge, Despair and Hope, Truth, & Resilience. Harari’s goal is not to prescribe a specific world view for our future, but rather to educate about the most important issues facing humanity.
Harari has a way of looking at the world that challenged a lot of my ideas about society. I found his writing style very enjoyable and rarely dry. If you are interested in why society is the way it is or in the future of humankind, I would highly recommend this book. Harari’s previous two works were also fascinating to me; Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind examines the evolution of humans from hunter-gatherers to space-faring astronauts while Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow attempts to understand humans further and stimulate discussion on what we want our future to look like.
WNPL carries this title as a book, CD-audiobook, eBook, and eAudiobook.
(Reviewed by Steven.)