Skip to content

Creation and destruction Quote by Yuval Noah Harari

“In the early twenty-first century the train of progress is again pulling out of the station – and this will probably be the last train ever to leave the station called Homo sapiens. Those who miss this train will never get a second chance. In order to get a seat on it you need to understand…” quote by Yuval Noah Harari
Download Open image
““In the early twenty-first century the train of progress is again pulling out of the station – and this will probably be the last train ever to leave the station called Homo sapiens. Those who miss this train will never get a second chance. In order to get a seat on it you need to understand twenty-first-century technology, and in particular the powers of biotechnology and computer algorithms. These powers are far more potent than steam and the telegraph, and they will not be used merely for the production of food, textiles, vehicles and weapons. The main products of the twenty-first century will be bodies, brains and minds, and the gap between those who know how to engineer bodies and brains and those who do not will be far bigger than the gap between Dickens’s Britain and the Mahdi’s Sudan. Indeed, it will be bigger than the gap between Sapiens and Neanderthals. In the twenty-first century, those who ride the train of progress will acquire divine abilities of creation and destruction, while those left behind will face extinction.””

Yuval Noah Harari

About This Quote

Source Book: Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, 2015

The quote warns that technological mastery will create a stark divide between those who control biotech and AI and those who do not, potentially leading to societal extinction for the latter.

In simple terms: Tech will split humanity into creators and losers.

Key Takeaway

Learn and adapt to emerging tech now.

Themes

technology inequality future ethics

Mood

urgent foreboding inspirational

Type

philosophical warning

When to use this quote

  • career planning
  • education
  • policy making
  • public discourse
  • personal development

Key Concepts

biotech AI human enhancement

Questions to Reflect On

  • How will you acquire relevant tech skills?
  • What policies can reduce the divide?
A Different Perspective

The warning assumes technology will be uniformly accessible and ethically guided, which may not hold true.

2.2 out of 5 (7 ratings)

More by Yuval Noah Harari

Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes

More Creation and destruction quotes

Browse all 24 Creation and destruction quotes