Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
by Yuval Noah Harari
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About the Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.
“Striking original . . . A historian whose arguments operate on the scale of millennia has managed to capture the zeitgeist perfectly.”—The Economist
“This deeply important book comes at a critical time as we all think through the implications of AI and automated content production. . . . Masterful and provocative.”—Mustafa Suleyman, author of The Coming Wave
For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite all our discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?
Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.
Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.
About the Author
Professor Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and the bestselling author ofSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and the series Sapiens: A Graphic History and Unstoppable Us. His books have sold forty-five million copies in sixty-five languages, and he is considered one of the world’s most influential public intellectuals working today. Born in Israel in 1976, Harari received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 2002 and is currently a lecturer at the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He co-founded the social impact company Sapienship, focused on education and media, with his husband Itzik Yahav.
Editorial Reviews
“A historian whose arguments operate on the scale of millennia has managed to capture the zeitgeist perfectly . . . Harari’s narrative is engaging, and his framing is strikingly original.”—The Economist
“Engrossing . . . A diagnosis and a call to action.”—Guardian
“A useful, well-informed primer . . . wise and bold.”—The New York Times
“Nexus is ambitious, bold and at times, unsettling. . . . For anyone interested in the intersection of history, technology and power, Harari once again provokes deep thought.”—The Conversation
“A cautionary tale about the power of stories.”—Publishers Weekly
“Nexus will challenge your core beliefs about technology and information while leaving you grateful for the experience.”—Dr. Joy Buolamwini, author of Unmasking AI
“Yuval Noah Harari has a unique ability to unite history’s finest details and its grandest megatrends in a single view. In this masterful and provocative new book, he makes a compelling case that information networks are—and always have been—the primary driving force shaping human societies. This deeply important book comes at a critical time as we all think through the implications of AI and automated content production.”—Mustafa Suleyman
“An important and timely must-read as our survival is at the mercy of information.”—Booklist, starred review
“Confronting the avalanche of books on the prospects of AI, readers would do well to begin with this one.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review