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by troutpanda 1141 days ago
Why would anyone trust Harari's opnion? He's basically a pop-sci author presenting classical cyberpunk ideas and themes as imminent future technologies (in the future we will have chips in people's brain / AI will control the world etc.).

There is absolutely no substance and he's no different from a tech bro saying plane tickets will be NFTs in the near future.
3 comments
johnea 1141 days ago
? Why would anyone trust anyone's opinion? 8-)

There is a precident of sci-fi authors inventing religions that are very popular among the idiot wealthy.

Ever heard of L. Ron?

Chips in brains: https://spectrum.ieee.org/what-is-neural-implant-neuromodula...

AI controlling the world: https://www.recruiter.com/recruiting/pros-and-cons-of-using-...

I'm amazed our idiot primate species is still into the whole invisible guy in outer space thing at all. People are obviously eager to sign up for whatever stupid shit is popular in their communities.

I'm no hirari fanboy, but I'm even less a human fanboy. Our species has demonstrated every kind of idiocy...

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osigurdson 1141 days ago
What species are you comparing us to?
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johnea 1141 days ago
One that's not chainsawing the planet so the people who have more than all others combined can have even more...
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osigurdson 1141 days ago
I think this a mind trick that people play on themselves. Tell yourself that all humans (or group of humans that one is a part of) are bad. Then, conclude that you are not part of the group (and therefore good) since you've made this observation.
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johnea 1141 days ago
Kind of like the mind trick of completely changing the subject?

BTW, I never said I was good...

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osigurdson 1141 days ago
Fair. So how many people should die by your estimation for things to be good on earth?
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MattPalmer1086 1141 days ago
It is not a matter of "trusting" his opinion. You can agree with it or disagree quite freely.

He is raising an interesting point, namely that you don't need to do weird sci fi things like implant chips in people's brains in order to control us.

All you need to do is to manipulate language and narratives. This harks back in some ways to his book Sapiens, where he shows how religions bind us together in shared narratives.

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ivanstegic 1141 days ago
Have you even read one of his books?
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