Write@Home
Winter 2015

Arts

Open book on table

Ivy-23-07-21-Book Review-21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari.

This book was my most enjoyable read this year. My child and I spend a lot of time reading books and I would like to recommend this book to you.

This is a thought-provoking book, that provides a set of questions and issues to focus on when thinking about the shape of the future of humanity. We’re drowning in information, and this book helps us understand what is really going on and thoughts about what we can do.

The author, Yuval Noah Harari, is an Israeli historian. As his foreword says: "What are the biggest challenges and most important changes today? What should we pay attention to? What should we teach?" This got me thinking about what the world will look like in 2050.

“Do not listen to your parent’s advice," Harari warns the youth, not because your parents might not mean well for you, but because their perception of the world might have become outdated.

The book is very good, not because it offers a solution to the world’s problems, but it is written in a sense that gives you a lesson and makes you think about your surroundings, understanding, and take apart the dogmatic stories that have been told to you since your childhood.

So, even though sometimes it maybe depressing, I still think it’s a powerful book with significant food for thought.

No one knows what the future holds but we can think about it and do more for the world we will leave our children.