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Famous Yuval Noah Harari Quotes

“Generation für Generation beteten die Menschen zu jedem Gott, jedem Engel, jedem Heiligen, und sie erfanden unzählige Instrumente, Institutionen und Gesellschaftssysteme – trotzdem starben sie weiter millionenfach an Hunger, Epidemien und Gewalt. Viele Denker und Propheten kamen zu dem Schluss, Hunger, Krankheit und Krieg seien eben fester Bestandteil von Gottes kosmischem Plan oder unserer unvollkommenen Natur, und erst am Ende aller Zeit würden wir davon befreit werden.”

“The capitalist and consumerist ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. The supreme commandment of the rich is ‘Invest!’ The supreme commandment of the rest of us is ‘Buy!’ The capitalist–consumerist ethic is revolutionary in another respect. Most previous ethical systems presented people with a pretty tough deal. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interests. This was too tough for most. The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha, and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum. In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist–consumerist ideal. The new ethic promises paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money and that the masses give free reign to their cravings and passions and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do. How though do we know that we'll really get paradise in return? We've seen it on television.”

“Mother Nature does not mind if men are sexually attracted to one another. It’s only human mothers steeped in particular cultures who make a scene if their son has a fling with the boy next door. The mother’s tantrums are not a biological imperative. A significant number of human cultures have viewed homosexual relations as not only legitimate but even socially constructive,..”

“I terroristi sono come una mosca che cerca di distruggere un negozio di articoli in porcellana. La mosca è così debole che non riesce a spostare neppure una singola tazza da tè. Così trova un toro, si infila all’interno di un orecchio dell’animale e inizia a ronzare. Il toro, impaurito e arrabbiato, monta su tutte le furie e devasta il negozio di articoli in porcellana. Questo è quanto è accaduto in Medio Oriente nell’ultimo decennio. I fondamentalisti islamici non avrebbero mai potuto rovesciare Saddam Hussein da soli. Perciò, hanno fatto inferocire gli USA con l’attacco dell’11 settembre e gli USA hanno distrutto il negozio di articoli di porcellana del Medio Oriente per loro. Adesso prosperano tra le macerie. Da soli, i terroristi sono troppo deboli per trascinarci di nuovo nel Medioevo e ristabilire la legge della giungla.”

“De la misma manera que el éxito económico de una compañía se mide solo por el número de dólares en su cuenta bancaria y no por la felicidad de sus empleados, el éxito evolutivo de una especie se mide por el número de copias de ADN. La especie se extingue, de la misma manera que una compañía sin dinero está en bancarrota.”

“For example, vehicles monitor their drivers’ behavior and share the data with the algorithms of the insurance companies, which raise the premiums they charge “bad drivers” and lower the premiums for “good drivers.” The American scholar Shoshana Zuboff has termed this ever-expanding commercial monitoring system “surveillance capitalism.”

“Unfortunately, in the present political climate any critical thinking about liberalism and democracy might be hijacked by autocrats and various illiberal movements, whose sole interest is to discredit liberal democracy rather than to engage in an open discussion about the future of humanity. While they are more than happy to debate the problems of liberal democracy, they have almost no tolerance of any criticism directed at them.”

“Jean Jacques Rousseau resumió todo en su novela Emilio, la biblia de los sentimientos del siglo XVIII.Rousseau sostenía que cuando buscaba las normas de la conducta en la vida, las encontró en lo más recóndito de su corazón, delineadas por la naturaleza en caracteres que nada puede borrar. Solo he de consultarme a mi mismo en relación con lo que quiero hacer; lo que siento que es bueno, es bueno, lo que siento que es malo, es malo.”

“Pendant la majeure partie de l’histoire, les mathématiques ont été un domaine ésotérique que même les gens instruits étudiaient rarement. Dans l’Europe médiévale, la logique, la grammaire et la rhétorique formaient le noyau dur de l’éducation, tandis que l’enseignement des mathématiques allait rarement au delà de l’arithmétique élémentaire et de la géométrie. Personne n’étudiait les statistiques. La théologie était la reine incontestée de toutes les sciences.”

“Climate change may be far beyond the concerns of people in the midst of a life-and-death emergency, but it might eventually make the Mumbai slums uninhabitable, send enormous new waves of refugees across the Mediterranean, and lead to a worldwide crisis in healthcare.”

“Mentre nel 2010 l’obesità e le malattie connesse hanno ucciso circa 3 milioni di persone, i terroristi hanno fatto 7697 vittime in tutto il mondo, la maggior parte delle quali nei paesi in via di sviluppo. Per l’americano o l’europeo medio, la Coca-Cola costituisce una minaccia assai più letale di al-Qaida.”

“A lo largo de la historia, profetas y filósofos han argumentado que si los humanos dejábamos de creer en un gran plan cósmico, toda ley y orden desaparecerían. Pero en la actualidad, los que plantean la mayor amenaza para le ley y el orden globales son precisamente aquellas personas que continúan creyendo en Dios y Sus planes universales. La Siria temerosa de Dios es un lugar mucho más violento que la atea Holanda.”

“Hasta 2016, la humanidad ha conseguido ciertamente nadar y guardar la ropa. No solo poseemos mucho más poder que nunca antes, sino que, contra toda expectativa, la muerte De Dios no ha cconducido al colapso social. A lo largo de la historia, profetas y filósofoshan argumentado que si los humanos dejábamos de crecer en un gran plan cósmico, toda ley y orden desaparecerían. Pero en la actualidad, los que plantean la mayor amenaza para la ley y el orden globales son precisamente aquellas personas que continúan creyendo en Dios y en Sus planes universales. La Siria temerosa De Dios es un lugar mucho más violento que la atea Holanda.”