Continuing (this is part 3) to share the main theses of the new book Nexus by Harari. See previous parts here #raufnexus
The first part of the book explores concepts of information and information networks, examining them through the lens of memetics. Harari describes information as a tool that unites people and forms common myths or worldviews. Well, I’ve mentioned this in previous posts.
Moving on, he discusses forms of governance. Harari proposes a model where democracies and autocracies differ in how they manage information:
1) Autocracies centralize information, suppress dissent, prioritizing order over the pursuit of truth.
2) Democracies decentralize information flows, allowing for error correction and a closer approach to truth, even at the cost of some chaos. The main feature of democracies is the recognition that people can make mistakes and have mechanisms for self-correction. And it’s not just majority rule or elections. It includes various human rights and civil liberties that the majority cannot infringe upon. While different among democracies, they generally come from the same pool.
Dictatorships, in contrast to democracies, view the Center as infallible, weakening independent verification mechanisms.
He writes that democracies were long limited by small scales until telecommunications enabled the development of modern democratic institutions. Well, how do you gather people from a large territory, many of whom speak their own languages and live with local issues, knowing nothing about the problems of their neighbors, much less about the issues of an entire country or empire.
And that autocracy often emerged not because the ruler was so inclined, but because anything else technically could not work. Example — the Roman Empire. Without the Internet and media, there’s just no way to establish democracy there. Democracies worked in small Greek cities and even those with “asterisks.”
In short, without the media, internet, and TV, democracies in any sizeable communities are impossible in the modern world.
Harari believes that progress in AI disproportionately strengthens totalitarian systems by enabling mass surveillance and suppression of dissenters. In other words, AI gives less to democracies than to autocracies. Technologies often amplify the spread of disinformation rather than truth, leading to catastrophic consequences like Europe’s witch hunts or ethnic cleansings in Myanmar.
About social networks: Social network algorithms optimizing engagement provoke polarization and the rise of populism, weakening democratic systems. This is not an accidental outcome of the technologies but a systemic problem. How to solve it, Harari has not yet proposed, but I haven’t finished reading yet.
Harari provides an interesting example (although very well-known):
He writes that a far more ambitious project of totalitarianism could have been implemented by the Qin dynasty in ancient China (221–206 BC). Why it could have, and not was implemented is because there’s little information on the results, only the process. To consolidate power, Qin Shi Huang aimed to destroy any regional forces that could challenge him. Local aristocracy’s lands and wealth were confiscated, and regional elites were relocated to the empire’s capital, Xianyang.
Look what he came up with:
On the bright side — he introduced a new simplified script, standardized coins, measures of weight, and length. A road network was built, radiating from Xianyang (the capital), with uniform inns, stations, and military posts.
But at the same time, a very deep militarization of society was carried out:
Each man was assigned a military rank, and the population was divided into groups of five. People were not allowed to change their residence without permission; even sleeping at a friend’s required identification (remember, you had to register if you moved to a new city for more than 3 days in the USSR and early Russia?).
The official ideology became legalism, asserting that people are inherently selfish, requiring strict laws and punishments to manage them. Like in “Election Day 2” — “the people are wonderful! But individuals are crap!”
Confucianism and Taoism were banned, books with ‘soft’ views were destroyed. No relaxation allowed!
Literature criticizing the dynasty was confiscated, and dissenting scholars were persecuted.
Total militarization and the concentration of resources for military purposes led to economic problems, wastefulness, and public discontent. Harsh laws, huge taxes, and a hostile attitude toward regional elites exacerbated this dissatisfaction. Limited resources of agrarian societies and the low efficiency of information technologies made it impossible to control the entire empire. As a result, in 209 BC, uprisings began by discontented peasants, regional elites, and even officials. Fifteen years after its foundation, the Qin dynasty fell.
After a series of wars, power was transferred to the Han dynasty, which abandoned totalitarian methods in favor of a softer, autocratic system based on Confucian principles. Emperors of Han, like their Roman contemporaries, managed only key aspects of society, allowing regions significant autonomy. Full-scale totalitarianism remained a dream of ancient rulers, whose realization became possible only with the development of modern technologies.
(Reading on, can write more if interested. Just keep supporting with likes and shares (especially!) for motivation)
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 