Christos Papaventsis

Posting quotes and in-depth reviews of books of political philosophy and history.

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“In an oligarchy, there is always some crisis that takes priority over boring stuff such as healthcare and pollution. By manufacturing a never-ending stream of crises, a corrupt oligarchy can prolong its rule indefinitely.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“If you want to go deeply into any subject, you need the privilege of wasting time. You need to experiment with unproductive paths, dead ends, make space for doubts, and allow little seeds of insight to slowly grow.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“It is much harder to struggle against irrelevance than against exploitation.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Whenever politicians start talking in mystical terms, beware. They might be trying to disguise and excuse real suffering by wrapping it up in big incomprehensible words like sacrifice, eternity, purity, and redemption.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“When a thousand people believe some made-up story for one month it's fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years it's religion, and we are admonished not to call it fake news to not hurt their feelings.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Many pedagogical experts argue that schools should downplay technical skills and emphasize life skills, such as the ability to deal with change, learn new things, and preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“If you know what you want in life, technology can help you get it. But if you don’t know what you want in life, it will be all too easy for technology to shape your aims for you and take control of your life.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Today, the richest 1 percent own half the world’s wealth. Even more alarmingly, the richest one hundred people together own more than the poorest four billion.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Change Is the Only Constant”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Starving children have no liberties.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“The Industrial Revolution created new conditions that the existing social and economic models couldn't cope with. Humankind took more than a century to experiment with democracy, communist dictatorships, and fascist regimes.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Identity is defined by conflicts and dilemmas more than by agreement.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“When people design web pages, they often cater to the taste of the Google search algorithm rather than to the taste of any human being.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Humans vote with their feet.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Revolutionary knowledge rarely makes it to the center, because the center is built on existing knowledge.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Replacing all human drivers by computers is expected to reduce deaths and injuries on the road by about 90 percent.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“We don’t invest much in exploring the human mind, instead focusing on the efficiency of our Big Data algorithms. If we are not careful, downgraded humans will misuse upgraded computers to wreak havoc on themselves.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“If we invest too much in developing AI and too little in developing human consciousness, the very sophisticated artificial intelligence of computers might only serve to empower the natural stupidity of humans.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“Have you seen those zombies who roam the streets with their faces glued to their smartphones? Do you think they control the technology, or does the technology control them?”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

[Christos Papaventsis @ChrisBAlchemist]

“If you blame Facebook, Trump, or Putin for ushering in a new and frightening era of post-truth, remind yourself that centuries ago millions of Christians never dared to question the factual veracity of the Bible.”

― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century