September 2021 – Homo Deus

Jirka Vicherek, a member of the Red Button network, talks about the book.

After the bestseller Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari turns his attention to the future. He analyzes the potential consequences when traditional collective myths of humanity collide with new “divine” technologies such as artificial intelligence or genetic engineering. Harari presents a vision of a not-so-distant world where we will likely face new kinds of challenges.

In Homo deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow, he explores our future in his typical style, combining history, philosophy, and natural sciences, along with insights from other fields. What will happen to democracy when companies like Google and Facebook know our tastes and preferences (including political ones) better than we do? What will become of the welfare state if computers succeed in the labor market, creating a majority class of “useless people”? How will Islam, for example, deal with genetic engineering? Will Silicon Valley develop only new technical devices, or also new religions? When Homo sapiens becomes Homo deus, what new goals will we set? Which projects should we strive to realize, and how will we protect this fragile planet and humanity itself from our own destructive forces?

Homo Deus offers insight into the dreams and nightmares shaping the 21st century – from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It provides an answer to the fundamental question about the next stage of human evolution: Where do we go from here? Where will Homo Deus go?

Who is Jiří Vicherek?

Jiří Vicherek is fascinated most of all by people. He spent a long time searching for a place to apply his talent for communication, moving through law, international relations, and culture before landing in public relations and the tech market. He believes he’s found his place because he gets to meet smart people and have meaningful conversations with them. He founded the agency Fenek, which he now co-owns with Irena Zatloukalová, also a member of the Red Button network.