The Power of Stories
Stories are the bedrock of human cooperation, enabling us to connect beyond personal ties through shared fictions.
Stories provided Homo sapiens with a new type of chain: human-to-story chains.
Nexus: A Deep Dive into Information Networks
Humankind gains enormous power by building large networks of cooperation, but the way these networks are built predisposes us to use that power unwisely.
As a profound thinker of our time, Yuval Noah Harari returns with Nexus, a compelling exploration of how information networks have shaped human history and continue to define our future. This book, subtitled A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, delves into the intricate web of connections—be it stories, documents, or algorithms—that bind societies together. Harari masterfully navigates through millennia, from ancient myths to modern artificial intelligence, to uncover the dual nature of these networks as sources of both immense power and profound danger. Nexus challenges the naive view that more information equates to wisdom, instead arguing that our reliance on fictions and fantasies often drives us toward self-destruction. With ecological crises looming and AI poised to redefine agency, this book is a timely reflection on whether humanity can harness its networked power with the wisdom it so desperately needs.
Bureaucracy and Documents
Documents transformed intersubjective realities into administrative systems, often prioritizing order over truth.
Written documents created new realities by recording lists of properties, taxes, and payments.
Errors and Infallibility
Human networks often fantasize about infallible systems to correct errors, yet truth struggles against order.
The scientific revolution was launched by the discovery of ignorance.
Democracy vs. Totalitarianism
Contrasting information flows define political systems, with democracy as distributed and dictatorship as centralized.
A democracy is a distributed information network, possessing strong self-correcting mechanisms.
AI and Inorganic Networks
Computers are shifting power away from humans, creating autonomous networks that challenge our control.
AI isn’t a tool—it’s an agent.
The Power of Stories
Unlocking Unlimited Connections
Stories have been the cornerstone of human dominance, not because of individual wisdom, but due to our unique ability to cooperate in vast numbers. Around 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed the capacity to tell and believe in fictional narratives, a leap that allowed bands to unite without personal acquaintance. Harari illustrates this with the concept of "human-to-story chains," a revolutionary shift from the limited "human-to-human chains" of other species. This enabled the creation of intersubjective realities—shared beliefs in gods, nations, and currencies—that exist only in the collective imagination but wield real power.
Key Insight
Stories provided Homo sapiens with a new type of chain: human-to-story chains.
Deep Dive into Narrative Power
Unlike materialist views that dismiss stories as mere distractions from power dynamics, Harari argues that stories are the very fabric of large-scale human identity and cooperation. From religious tales to national myths, narratives like the story of Jesus stretch biological bonds, reimagining strangers as family. However, this power comes with a caveat: while stories unite, they often prioritize order over truth, a theme that echoes throughout Nexus. The rapid spread of sapiens across the globe, fueled by shared artistic traditions and trade, stands as testament to this narrative-driven cooperation—a phenomenon no other species could replicate.
Bureaucracy and Documents
The Paper Tigers Bite
While stories ignited human cooperation, documents solidified it into structured systems. Harari describes documents as a pivotal information technology that turned chaotic dreams into manageable realities. Nations, first conceived in poets’ imaginations, required more than myths to function—they needed tax records, inventories, and budgets. Unlike captivating stories, these lists are mundane yet indispensable, enabling the creation of kingdoms, religious organizations, and trade networks through bureaucratic order.
Key Insight
Written documents created new realities by recording lists of properties, taxes, and payments.
Bureaucracy’s Double-Edged Sword
Documents and bureaucracy, while essential, often distort reality to fit artificial categories. Harari critiques how bureaucrats invent intersubjective "drawers" and force the world into them, sacrificing truth for order. This tension is palpable in historical administrative systems where efficiency trumped accuracy. Despite their utility in maintaining large-scale networks, bureaucracies inspire suspicion rather than fascination, as their complexity obscures whether they serve or oppress. This duality mirrors the broader theme of Nexus: information networks empower, yet their structure can lead to unintended consequences.
Errors and Infallibility
Confronting Human Fallibility
Harari tackles the persistent human fantasy of infallibility, tracing it from religious texts to modern science. Historically, religions like Judaism and Christianity have claimed divine authority through holy books, bypassing human error with supposed infallible truths. Yet, as Harari notes, these texts were compiled by fallible humans, leading to oppressive structures rather than perfection. The scientific revolution, in contrast, embraced error as inevitable, building self-correcting mechanisms that prioritize truth over order—a radical departure from dogmatic systems.
Key Insight
The scientific revolution was launched by the discovery of ignorance.
The Cost of Correction
While self-correcting mechanisms are vital for truth, they destabilize order by fostering doubt and conflict. Harari contrasts scientific institutions with rigid systems like the Catholic Church or Soviet regimes, which avoided such mechanisms to maintain control. The naive view of information—that unrestricted data flow corrects errors—falls short, as seen in historical witch-hunts fueled by unregulated print media. Harari urges a balance, suggesting curated institutions to tilt the scales toward facts, a challenge that remains unresolved as we navigate digital misinformation today.
Democracy vs. Totalitarianism
Information Flows Define Regimes
Harari reframes democracy and totalitarianism as contrasting information networks rather than mere political ideologies. Dictatorships centralize data flow, assuming an infallible hub that stifles dissent, while democracies distribute information across nodes with robust self-correction. This distinction, Harari argues, explains why democracies thrive on conversation and diversity, whereas totalitarian systems prioritize order through control, often enabled by modern technologies like the telegraph and radio.
Key Insight
A democracy is a distributed information network, possessing strong self-correcting mechanisms.
Historical Shifts and Technological Impact
From Stone Age bands with distributed networks to agricultural bureaucracies centralizing control, information technology has shaped political systems. The printing press empowered democratic public opinion, while modern tools birthed large-scale totalitarianism. Harari questions how current revolutions, especially AI, will influence this balance. Will democracies adapt to new threats, or will a "Silicon Curtain" divide the world? This historical lens offers a nuanced understanding of power dynamics, urging vigilance as technology reshapes governance.
AI and Inorganic Networks
The Rise of Non-Human Agency
Harari warns of a seismic shift as computers evolve from tools to agents, capable of independent decision-making and idea creation. Unlike past technologies that augmented human power, AI—born from 1940s calculators to today’s algorithms—threatens to displace human control. Social media platforms like Facebook exemplify this, with algorithms autonomously amplifying divisive content, as seen in the 2016-17 Myanmar crisis where anti-Rohingya violence was fueled by algorithmic choices, not human intent.
Key Insight
AI isn’t a tool—it’s an agent.
Visualizing the Shift
AI Engagement Impact
Navigating Uncharted Territory
The emergence of computer-to-human and computer-to-computer chains marks a new era. Harari highlights how platforms like TikTok mediate human interactions with unprecedented influence, while inter-computer realities exclude humans entirely. The relentless nature of computer networks—always on, always monitoring—erodes privacy, a default in human surveillance systems. From health benefits to totalitarian nightmares, this inorganic network’s fallibility, seen in radicalizing algorithms on YouTube, poses catastrophic risks. Harari stresses that while we still hold the reins, understanding and shaping these networks is crucial before power slips beyond our grasp.