Yuval Noah Harari on the Myths we Need to Survive

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2016

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Myths. We tend to think they’re a thing of the past, fabrications that early humans needed to believe in because their understanding of the world was so meagre. But what if modern civilisation were itself based on a set of myths? This is the big question posed by Professor Yuval Noah Harari, author of 'Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind', which has become one of the most talked about bestsellers of recent years. In this exclusive appearance for Intelligence Squared, Harari argued that all political orders are based on useful fictions which have allowed groups of humans, from ancient Mesopotamia through to the Roman empire and modern capitalist societies, to cooperate in numbers far beyond the scope of any other species. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Pepsi Max. Christmas is great, but there's loads of ways to make it better.
0:08.0	Like sneaking some chili into the gravy for some extra ink,
0:12.0	or building a playlist that will even get your
0:14.8	nann up on the table or just cracking open an ice cold Pepsi Max. Christmas better with Pepsi Max Christmas.
0:23.0	Better with Pepsi Max.
0:25.0	This episode is brought to you by Krakan.
0:30.0	crypto is like the financial system but different.
0:33.6	He doesn't care where you come from, what you look like, your credit score,
0:37.6	or your outrageous food delivery habits.
0:40.2	Cripto is finance for everyone, everywhere, all the time.
0:45.0	Visit Cracken.com slash see what crypto can be.
0:48.8	To learn more.
0:49.8	Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.
0:57.0	Thank you for downloading this Intelligence Square podcast.
1:00.0	For more information on our debates, talks and discussions,
1:03.5	visit Intelligencesquare.com and sign up to the newsletter.
1:07.0	Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Yvonne Noah Harare. Can we begin just with outlining what you see as the framework of the book itself and to me it's it's all
1:27.4	positive around three key revolutions. Tell us a little bit about each of those.
1:32.1	Well 70,000 years ago, human beings, homo sapiens were basically just insignificant apes in a corner of Africa.
1:41.0	Not very different in their impact on the ecosystem from many other animals.
1:47.1	Before that, our prehistory is really just biology.
1:56.9	History begins about 70,000 years ago with the cognitive revolution, during which we don't exactly know how and why, we've gained remarkable cognitive abilities, above all abilities to communicate, to use language,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Intelligence Squared, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Intelligence Squared and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.