A couple of days ago I found this great interview with Yuval Noah Harari on Youtube that I’d like to share with you. In the interview hosted by A THING BY, a collective of filmmakers based in Milano, he is talking about the world before, during and after Coronavirus.
Yuval Noah Harari is a historian and philosopher from Israel and is one of the most popular intellectual men of our times. He is the bestselling author of Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century and held a lot of interviews which are accessible on his website.
In this interview Harari shares his thoughts about how Coronavirus is changing the world. I’d like to point out some statements he made and at the end you’ll find the link to the interview.
Until today most surveillance was above the skin and now it’s going under the skin. (Harari)
We already share our data by using google maps, facebook and so on. But with sharing data about our health, the surveillance goes one step further. If we share in our bodies collected data about our health, we share data about our feelings as well. He points out that it is important that not the police or government receive this data, but the health care system. Health care is the only institution that needs it and government could use it against us.
Nationalism isn’t about hating foreigners, but about loving your compatriots and taking care of them. (Harari)
For me, nationalism had always a negative connotation. But if you look at the other side, nationalism is a great thing. We pay taxes to enable a person we don’t know at all access to health care or education. Acting nationalistic during the Corona crisis means therefore not closing the borders, but cooperating with other countries.
We can’t defeat this crisis without effective global cooperation. (Harari)
We have to work together to defeat the virus. Because a country is never safe, even without any covid-19 case, until a vaccination is invented or the virus is erased. If we cooperate and put solidarity above hatred we achieve this goal faster and reduce the risk of a mutation that makes the virus even more dangerous. This mutation can happen at any time and one single mutation is enough to change the course of the crisis completely.
It doesn’t change our fundamental nature. (Harari)
Some people think that this virus changes human beings. Harari on the other hand says that once we’ve overcome the crisis, we will go back to normal. We may change how we work (home office, online courses) and appreciate more what we took for granted (meeting friends, going to festivals, the vast range of leisure activities). But covid-19 won’t change human nature, it only changes our behaviour during the crisis.
People do trust scientists above everything else in all countries. (Harari)
Where do you get reliable information from? Whom do you trust? During this crisis people trust scientists. We can rely on information from a scientist because we trust the institution behind him*her. And we shouldn’t forget trusting these institutions and scientists even after the crisis.
That’s enough from my side, I hope I could have given you some inputs and new thoughts. If you’re interested in it, you can find the whole interview on the link below.
Yuval Noah Harari about the world before, during and after Coronavirus