Free 21 Lessons For The 21st Century Book Summary by Yuval Noah Harari

Key Insights

In “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” by Yuval Noah Harari, the author dives into how our 21st-century world, full of rapidly evolving technological advancements, affects both politics and social transformation. He asks the important question of what it means to live, learn, and make decisions in our world today.

Author Harari examines complex issues such as the spread of misinformation, the psychology of terrorism, and the future of education with developments such as artificial intelligence on the rise. 

Harari breaks down complicated ideas into accessible and insightful lessons that challenge readers to think critically about their roles as citizens, parents, and individuals in a rapidly changing world. 

Whether you're trying to understand how to raise children in an uncertain future or simply make sense of the world around you, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” serves as a blueprint for navigating the challenges of modern-day life with clarity, awareness, and purpose.

Technology’s Effect On Financial, Economic, & Political Systems

During the 20th century, three political structures competed for global control; they were communism, fascism, and liberalism. When the late 20th century came around, liberalism was the frontrunner as it honored democracy and freedom. But, how well is liberalism holding up now?

It seems as if liberalism is declining, and this could be due to the rapid advancement in information technology.

It’s no secret that since the 1990s, computers have become a staple in our daily lives and have redesigned the way we live. And although technology plays a hand in everything we do, it’s becoming more and more clear that politicians are not able to control it.

For example, let’s look at the world of finance. Technology has recreated our financial system, which has made it almost impossible for the Average Joe to understand it. If we keep going down this road of technological advancements, there may come a time when no human will be able to make sense of financial data.

Think about the enormity of that circumstance! If we, as humans, can’t understand financial data, governments will be waiting on computers to permit their budgets and tax reform plans. Shouldn’t humans have control over technology? Seems pretty backwards!

Most politicians don’t see the harm in technological disruption. They may not even think of it as a disruption at all. If we look at the 2016 United States presidential election, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton touched on the fact of job losses due to technology. In reality, the only time technological disruption was discussed was when it concerned the Hillary emails.

With the lack of discussion around technology, voters are beginning to lose faith in our government authorities. Average people living in democracies are seeing the direct impact on their jobs as artificial intelligence becomes a reliable colleague at work. With AI being able to do just about everything a human can do, workers are beginning to feel irrelevant and unheard. To overcome this fear of replacement, people are trying hard to hold onto their political power.

Both Brexit and the election of Trump in 2016 are great examples of this. They were both supported by ordinary citizens who were concerned about the liberal political systems, marking them as irrelevant with the surge of new technology and processes.

In the 20th century, workers were more concerned about being taken advantage of by wealthy citizens and businesses. Now, workers are more fearful about losing their status in their careers by being replaced by technology. 

Discoveries In Neuroscience 

It’s clear to see that robotics and machine learning are going to have a major impact on all areas of the workplace in the 21st century. But it’s hard to say exactly what that will look like. Will we be dealing with a job crisis as people scramble to find a job that a computer can’t do? Or will there be more jobs available for the general public?

Spectators with a positive outlook on the rise of technological advancement use the Industrial Revolution as an example of how technology can have a great effect on the workforce. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, the fear of unemployment was prominent. However, there was no fear necessary as each job technology took, it created a new one for a human to perform.

But, if we look at our time in the 21st century, it’s apparent that the advanced technology that is being created could be a lot more destructive to the workforce than the technology created during the Industrial Revolution.

The reason why technology is more of a threat to us now is that back then, physical work was the only thing it could perform better than human employees. Now, technology can do both physical and cognitive work, much like humans. Back then, cognitive skills were still needed by humans, but in the 21st century, computers can oftentimes do things faster and with more accuracy than a human when it comes to equations, formulas, analysis, communication, and other cognitive tasks.

Not too long ago, neuroscientists uncovered that our choices, likes and dislikes, and emotions are not just a result of free will, but rather, the brain’s process of being able to determine various outcomes rapidly.

The fact that the magic of “free will” is eliminated when discussing choices and emotions is troublesome and raises the question: Will artificial intelligence be able to utilize “human intuition” in career fields such as law and finance?

This is a real concern for people in these fields who have been performing their jobs with their cognitive minds. Now that we know that human intuition is just the brain’s neural networks recognizing patterns to make choices and determine emotions, we should be scared of the future of the workforce.

It’s safe to say that in the 21st century, technology very well may be able to make financial decisions and determinations about a lawyer’s case, as well as many other cognitive tasks. In the 21st century, no job is safe from the takeover of technology. 

The Debate Over Immigration

The world doesn’t seem as big as it used to be. Now more than ever, it’s easy to talk to someone across the globe via technology. Or even meet them in person through travel. And although this is a great advancement, it also brings a lot of conflict.

Many people cross borders for better job opportunities and better, more secure lives for their families. However, citizens of countries retaliate by trying to expel or confront immigrants. Issues that come with immigration are testing political ideologies and national identities. In Europe, this issue is met with extreme tension.

In the 20th century, the European Union was formed. This union was designed to help European countries conquer cultural inequalities between the people of Germany, France, and other European nations. However, now, this political union is at its breaking point because of its neglect of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East.

People who have newly arrived in Europe from Africa and the Middle East have begun to address issues of equality, tolerance, and identity in their new home countries. And although assimilation when entering a new country is encouraged, there’s a question of how much people should change their identity to fit their new culture.

Many Europeans believe that people immigrating from Africa and the Middle East to Europe should shed their old cultural identities and do their best to adopt a fully European lifestyle, including style of dress and food preferences. These same Europeans believe that these immigrants should commit to the liberal ideology of the European nations, rather than carry over their religious and patriarchal beliefs from their home countries.

But there are other pro-immigration Europeans who think differently. These Europeans see this as an opportunity for Europe to become even more diverse than it already is. They see the unfairness in asking people to surrender their whole identities to join a European nation.

The pro-immigration Europeans believe that a Muslim immigrant should not have to convert to Christianity, especially when the majority of British people don’t even attend services. They also don’t understand the harm of immigrants enjoying their curry versus a plate of fish and chips. Plus, both of these foods can be found in European nations for anyone to enjoy!

The debates around immigration assimilation are not straightforward, and that’s why it shouldn’t be labeled as a debate between fascist anti-immigrationists and pro-immigrationists that are tearing down the identity of European culture. Rather, the topic of European immigration should be discussed with both perspectives at the forefront, as each has something valuable to offer. 

Terrorist Groups

In the European Union, since 2001, about fifty people have been killed every year by terrorists. In the United States, it’s about ten people a year.

Now let’s compare terrorism to traffic deaths. In Europe, 80,000 people have died in traffic accidents, and in the United States, 40,000. So why does terrorism have more of a hold on our fear than driving a car?

The answer is: terrorism has a strategy, whereas traffic accidents just happen. Terrorism’s goal is to transform political situations and create fear among citizens. Terrorists don’t usually kill masses of people, but the way they do so ignites fear in society. Their strategy is very effective.

An example of this is al-Qaeda and its 9/11 attacks, which killed 3,000 Americans. In this instance, a large majority of people were killed, and people in the United States, especially in New York, were consumed with fear. However, this attack did little damage to the United States’ military power.

Think about it: After the attack, the United States had the same number of soldiers and resources, including ammunition, ships, and tanks. Also, the transportation ports and ways to communicate were still intact. 

However, the imagery of the Twin Towers falling to the streets of New York, combined with the audio, was powerful enough for the nation to want to seek revenge. The terrorists were seeking a political and military war in the Middle East, and that’s just what the United States gave them when George W. Bush declared a war on terror in Afghanistan as retaliation.

The question is: How did a group of terrorists who were unskilled soldiers with few resources manage to turn the world upside-down so easily with strategic manipulation?

To understand this, it’s helpful to think of al-Qaeda as a buzzing fly in a china shop. A fly can’t possibly break anything in there, even though it wants to, because it’s simply not big or strong enough. So, instead of trying to push over a teacup on its own, it decides to buzz into the ear of a bull, which inevitably annoys the bull and causes the bull to break things in the shop.

Going back to the war on terror, the Islamic terrorist was the fly, America was the bull, and the Middle East was the china shop. However, instead of annoyance, like the bull, America was driven by fear as well as anger.

The lesson here is that terrorists win the game through strategy when governments overreact. 

Humans Are Ignorant

For hundreds of years to the present, we’ve had faith in the idea that human adults are rational and independent. In fact, the whole system of democracy is based on the idea that voters will determine the best outcome for society. Similarly, capitalism spreads the mantra that the customer is always right. And our liberal system of education pushes independent thinking.

However, in the 21st century, this optimistic faith in human adults may cause more problems than solutions. That’s because the average modern-day human adult doesn’t know how the world functions.

If we look at history, to the people of the Stone Age, we can see that they were very self-sufficient; These people knew how to hunt for their food, use every bit of the animal for clothes and resources, and they could start a fire in a jiffy. Nowadays, we rely on technology or other people to get a job done for us. However, many of us believe we know more than our Stone Age ancestors. 

A great example of this is a study that was done where people were asked if they understood how a common zipper works. Most people replied, of course! However, when they were asked to explain it, they failed to do so.

What can we learn from this? The modern-day human is a victim of “the knowledge illusion.” This means that we believe we understand something because other people understand it, and it’s something that we come in contact with a lot.

This can be problematic, especially when we start to apply this disillusionment to circumstances such as a presidential campaign or climate change. In short, the normal everyday human doesn’t understand how ignorant they really are about the world around them.

This is why it’s not uncommon to see people who know very little about a particular field propose “groundbreaking” ideas to solve issues. For example, a politician who is not schooled in meteorology, declaring a solution for climate change.

To utilize this lesson in your everyday life, urge people to explain their opinions on different matters. This will help to determine if they’re an expert on the subject or just someone who is suffering from “the knowledge illusion.”

Students Need Critical Thinking

We need to start thinking about what kind of education will help carry our youth into the next century.

What we are doing right now, unfortunately, isn’t going to work. For children of the 21st century to be successful, effective, and competent humans, we need to redesign the school system.

Right now, schools are focused on filling students’ heads with knowledge about mathematics, past events, different languages, the history of art, and everything else that makes up our culture of academics. This method may have helped students succeed in the 19th century because it was hard to find this information outside of formal schooling.

Now, we can get this information anywhere! We have libraries, radios, television, newspapers, and podcasts, not to mention the internet. And nowadays, we don’t have to worry about censorship as much. 

Many countries in past centuries fell victim to censorship, and the only material available for perusing was religious texts and hand-picked novels. However, when the current education system was introduced, more material on history, geography, and biology became available. This benefited the population.

That was then, and this is now, where our ancient education system needs a makeover. Now, we have too much information at our disposal, and the government has little control over what we consume. Many people spend countless hours in their week searching through Wikipedia, listening to podcasts, and even taking free online courses.

Although it’s great that all of this information is at our fingertips, we now have to deal with the fact that not all of the things we read or watch are necessarily true.

To combat this information overload in our modern-day schooling, we should repress the urge to fill students’ brains with too much information. Instead, these students should be taught how to think critically and analyze the information they are met with every day, so that they can determine fact from fiction. 

The Main Takeaway

In “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” Author Yuval Noah Harari discusses how to prepare the future generation for the changes to come in the midst of rapid technological change and political instability.

Harari harps on the importance of critical thinking and analysis, as well as embracing our limits of understanding as the world grows more and more complex. This includes approaching tense social issues with logic and debate, rather than with fear and tenacity.

Being able to distinguish truth from misinformation is one of the most important skills a person can adopt during a time when we are flooded with information from various media and platforms daily. 

Although many of us fear issues such as terrorism and technological advancement affecting our individual economic stability, we must rely on our ability to stay engaged, flexible, and informed. 

About the Author

Yuval Noah Harari holds a PhD in history from the University of Oxford. He is internationally renowned for his insightful and thought-provoking works on human civilization and the future. Harari’s best-selling books, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” and “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow,” have reached readers around the globe, having been translated into more than fifty languages and selling over twelve million copies. He is one of the most influential public intellectuals of the 21st century.