The Politics of Consciousness
Yuval Noah Harari
The MIT Press eBooks December 16, 2025 DOI: 10.7551/mitpress/14600.003.0009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Politics Power physics Relation database Key lock Self-consciousness Epistemology Environmental ethics |
| Key points | Argues that the scientific lack of understanding of consciousness is a critical and dangerous lacuna, as it may lead to misuse of power when re-engineering life. |
Abstract
In relation to his interest in consciousness, he says, "I believe the question of consciousness is the key to understanding life.The fact that science does not understand consciousness is the greatest lacuna in the scientific worldview.And in the twenty-first century, this lacuna is becoming extremely dangerous.For we are now acquiring the ability to reengineer life.If we indeed learn how to re-engineer life before we understand consciousness, we might misuse our power in truly terrible ways.