Yuval Harari, the author of Sapiens which has sold over 50 million copies in 65 languages, is probably the most influential historian and philosopher of our time.
He talks about how we humans are organic beings, animals, who need to work and rest and sleep and rejuvenate. This has been our lot for hundreds of thousands of years. If we don’t rest our limbic system we go mad. (The limbic system is a group of brain structures that regulate emotions, behavior, motivation and memory).
The psychology of many people is still rooted in things that shaped our behavior 50,000 years ago, primitive instincts such as mistrust of strangers and territorial disputes, which is why it is so easy for populists to stir up anti-migrant sentiments and enlist angry and fanatical followers, easily convinced migrants are going to displace their race, take their jobs and change their culture.
Inorganic beings like bots and AI don’t need to rest. They are working at the speed of light 24/7, digesting vast volumes of data with memories that never forget. These algorithms are buying and selling all day and night on the stockmarket, selecting the most sensational events to determine what appears in the daily news cycle. Harari believes these inorganic beings are a far greater threat to people’s livelihoods and well-being than migrants, but they have sneaked up on us in plain sight, because most people are still unaware of the threat they pose.
Crazy conspiracy theories that may have once reached hundreds have become click-bait for hundreds of millions, the more outrageous, the more clicks, generating new wealth for pedophiles, porn brokers, incels, terrorists, or any cohort who sets the bait. AI has learned what works and is creating its own click-bait, all programmed to funnel ever greater wealth back to the tech giants. In the USA, corporations were granted the same rights as people, as a way of getting around corporate payments to politicians. Yuval foresees a time when AI bots may also be granted the same rights as people in the USA.
Yuval said he thinks he may now be writing his last book, because he already concedes AI is writing better than he can. There are dozens of Yuval Harari’s videos on Youtube. It is well worth taking a look.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
