21st Century Lessons

I recently read Yuval Noah Harari’s “21 Lessons for the 21st Century” – a fascinating read. He explores various of the challenges of our time, but I was particularly struck by a couple of comments near the end of the book, one about humility and the other concerning suffering.

“Humans of all creeds would do well to take humility more seriously. And among all forms of humility, perhaps the most important is to have humility before God. Whenever they talk of God, humans all too often profess abject self-effacement, but then use the name of God to lord it over their brethren.”

“The most real thing in the world is suffering. When you are confronted by some great story, and you wish to know whether it is real or imaginary, one of the key questions to ask is whether the central hero of the story can suffer.”

Basically the book is a series of 21 essays on contemporary issues, and it certainly offers some interesting thinking around what gives meaning to life. I certainly go for the thought that we could do with more humility and also the importance of facing the questions posed by suffering.