--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the early twenty-first century the…" description: "\"“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 t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/yuval-noah-harari-100_creation-and-destruc_in-the-early-twenty-first-century-the-tr_1923124.jpg" --- # In the early twenty-first century the train of progress is… ![“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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/yuval-noah-harari-100_creation-and-destruc_in-the-early-twenty-first-century-the-tr_1923124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/yuval-noah-harari-100_creation-and-destruc_in-the-early-twenty-first-century-the-tr_1923124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5b/yuval-noah-harari-100_creation-and-destruc_in-the-early-twenty-first-century-the-tr_1923124.jpg) > ““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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. 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. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation and destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation-and-destruction/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Gap Sapiens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gap-sapiens-2965331/) [Homo sapiens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homo-sapiens/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Neanderthals Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neanderthals-century-2965333/) [Sapiens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sapiens/) [Sapiens Miss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sapiens-miss-2965332/) [Second chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-chance/) ## Related quotes > [“Seventy thousand years ago, Homo sapiens was still an insignificant animal minding its own business in a corner of Africa. 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After those needs are met, more money can be spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/it-does-not-take-much-to-provide-the-objective-biological-needs-of/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Homo sapiens does its best to forget the fact, but it is an animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/homo-sapiens-does-its-best-to-forget-the-fact-but-it-is-an-animal/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Homo sapiens drove to extinction about half of the planet’s big beasts long before humans invented the wheel, writing or iron tools.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/homo-sapiens-drove-to-extinction-about-half-of-the-planet-s-big/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [When the first humans reached Australia about 45,000 years ago, they quickly drove to extinction 90% of its large animals. 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It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/to-understand-the-rise-of-christianity-or-the-french-revolution-it-is/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [We are probably one of the last generations of Homo sapiens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/we-are-probably-one-of-the-last-generations-of-homo-sapiens/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Humans nowadays completely dominate the planet not because the individual human is far smarter and more nimble-fingered than the individual chimp or wolf, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/humans-nowadays-completely-dominate-the-planet-not-because-the/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Homo sapiens is only man, in the fullest sense of the word, when his grammar contains no question marks, only exclamation marks, commas, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-zamyatin/homo-sapiens-is-only-man-in-the-fullest-sense-of-the-word-when-his/) [Yevgeny Zamyatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-zamyatin/) ## More by Yuval Noah Harari > [“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. 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There is no chance that gravity will cease to function tomorrow, even if people stop believing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/a-natural-order-is-a-stable-order-there-is-no-chance-that-gravity/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) [Explore all 1,200 Yuval Noah Harari quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) ## More Creation and destruction quotes > [“Philosophy is the theory of multiplicities, each of which is composed of actual and virtual elements. Purely actual objects do not exist. Every actual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilles-deleuze/philosophy-is-the-theory-of-multiplicities-each-of-which-is-composed/) [Gilles Deleuze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilles-deleuze/) > [“...the relationships between the five elements. What are the five elements? They are wood, fire, earth, metal, water. 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White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-v-white/) > [“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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/in-the-twenty-first-century-those-who-ride-the-train-of-progress-will/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [Modern physics had shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritjof-capra/modern-physics-had-shown-that-the-rhythm-of-creation-and-destruction/) [Fritjof Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritjof-capra/) > [Modern physics has... revealed that every sub-atomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an energy dance; a pulsating process of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritjof-capra/modern-physics-has-revealed-that-every-sub-atomic-particle-not-only/) [Fritjof Capra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritjof-capra/) > [“Creation and destruction are one, to the eyes who can see beauty. 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It is contained within what is right in front of us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-e-davey/the-undiscovered-is-not-far-away-it-s-not-something-to-be-found/) [h.e. davey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-e-davey/) > [“All of the important acts of creation and destruction involve the issuance of words and the application of signature.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/all-of-the-important-acts-of-creation-and-destruction-involve-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) [Browse all 24 Creation and destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation-and-destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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. 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