PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewIn his fascinating new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the historian Yuval Noah Harari creates a useful framework for confronting these fears ... Although you will find a few concrete lessons scattered throughout, Harari mostly resists handy prescriptions. He’s more interested in defining the terms of the discussion and giving you historical and philosophical perspective ... Sprinkled throughout is some practical advice, including a three-prong strategy for fighting terrorism and a few tips for dealing with fake news. But his big idea boils down to this: Meditate ... This is easy to mock, but as someone who’s taking a course on mindfulness and meditation, I found it compelling ... As much as I admire Harari and enjoyed 21 Lessons, I didn’t agree with everything in the book ... I wanted to see more nuance in Harari’s discussion of data and privacy ... I was also dissatisfied with the chapter on community ... he undersells the benefits of connecting family and friends around the world. He also creates a straw man by asking whether Facebook alone can solve the problem of polarization. On its own, of course it can’t ... But Harari is such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking.
