Nexus : a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI / Yuval Noah Harari.
Harari, Yuval N
Nexus : a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI / Yuval Noah Harari. - London : Fern Press, 2024. - xxxii, 492p., illustrations ; 25 cm
Contents:
Prologue Part I: Human networks / Chapter 1: What is information Chapter 2: Stories: Unlimited connections Chapter 3: Documents: The bite of the paper tigers Chapter 4: Errors: The fantasy of infallibility Chapter 5: Decisions: A brief history of democracy and totalitarianism Part II: The inorganic network / Chapter 6: The new members: How computers are different from printing presses Chapter 7: Relentless: The network is always on Chapter 8: Fallible: The network is often wrong Part III: Computer politics / Chapter 9: Democracies: Can we still hold a conversation? Chapter 10: Totalitarianism: All power to the algorithms? Chapter 11: The silicon curtain: Global empire or global split? Epilogue Acknowledgements Notes Index Summary: "From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. 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, nor is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity."-- Provided by publisher.
9781911717096
Information behavior-History
Information networks-History
Information technology-History
001.09 / HAR-24
Nexus : a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI / Yuval Noah Harari. - London : Fern Press, 2024. - xxxii, 492p., illustrations ; 25 cm
Contents:
Prologue Part I: Human networks / Chapter 1: What is information Chapter 2: Stories: Unlimited connections Chapter 3: Documents: The bite of the paper tigers Chapter 4: Errors: The fantasy of infallibility Chapter 5: Decisions: A brief history of democracy and totalitarianism Part II: The inorganic network / Chapter 6: The new members: How computers are different from printing presses Chapter 7: Relentless: The network is always on Chapter 8: Fallible: The network is often wrong Part III: Computer politics / Chapter 9: Democracies: Can we still hold a conversation? Chapter 10: Totalitarianism: All power to the algorithms? Chapter 11: The silicon curtain: Global empire or global split? Epilogue Acknowledgements Notes Index Summary: "From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world. 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, nor is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity."-- Provided by publisher.
9781911717096
Information behavior-History
Information networks-History
Information technology-History
001.09 / HAR-24