Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, a writer, and a popular 'public intellectual'. He rose to fame with Sapiens (2014), his popular science book that sought to outline a 'History of Humankind' and followed this up with a more future-focused sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2016). More recently, he's been converting his insights into a format targeted at younger people with Unstoppable Us: How Humans Took Over the World (2022). In general, Harari is a go-to public intellectual for people looking for big ideas, thoughts on global events, and how we might avoid catastrophe. He has been a consistent figure on the interview and public lecture circuit and, with his secular message, seems an ideal candidate for Gurometeratical analysis.
Harari also has some alter egos. He is a high-ranking villain in the globalist pantheon for InfoWars-style conspiracy theorists, with plans that involve us all eating bugs and uploading our consciousness to the Matrix. Alternatively, for (some) historians and philosophers, he is a shallow pretender, peddling inaccurate summaries of complex histories and tricky philosophical insights. For others, he is a neoliberal avatar offering apologetics for exploitative capitalist and multinational bodies.
So, who is right? Is he a bug-obsessed villain plotting to steal our precious human souls or a mild-mannered academic promoting the values of meditation, historical research, and moderation?
Join Matt and Chris in this episode to find out and learn other important things, such as what vampires should spend their time doing, whether money is 'real', and how to respond respectfully to critical feedback.
Links
Gad Saad: Oh my Gad, it's the Saadfather!
Special Episode: Interview with Robert Wright on crackpots, gurus, and modern media ecosystems
Special Episode: Interview with Evan Thompson on Buddhist Exceptionalism
Carl Sagan: My God, it's full of stars
Special Episode: Interview with Daniel Harper on the Far Right & IDW Criticism
Special Episode: Interview with Amanda Montell on Cultish Linguistics
Anthony DeMello: The Bob Ross of Spiritual Gurus?
Special Episode: Interview with Jesse Singal on Quick Fix Psychology
Special Episode: Interview with Tim Nguyen on Geometric Unity
Bret Weinstein & Jordan Peterson: Two gargantuan intellects stare into the abyss
Brett Weinstein & Heather Heying: Why are 'they' suppressing Ivermectin, the miracle cure?
Michael O"Fallon: The Jacobins are Back..... To Reset..... Everything.... Dun Dun Daah!
Gwyneth Paltrow: Crawling with parasites and in need of a cleanse
Special Episode: Sam Harris & Meditation is all you need
Special Episode: Interview with Phrost on Bullshido
Ibram X. Kendi: Gurometer Rating (Patreon Preview)
Ibram X. Kendi: Inside you are two wolves. One of them is racist.
Special Episode: Interview with Matthew Remski on Conspirituality
Nassim N. Taleb: Everything these idiots, frauds, and assholes don't understand
Special Episode: Interview with Thi Nguyen, a Gurometer's Guru
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