Welcome to Hebrew University Speaks, CFHU’s new video series spotlighting HU faculty with ideas and innovations to challenge, inform and entertain.
Our first segment features noted historian and futurist Yuval Noah Harari, appearing as a hologram on stage at TED Vancouver while actually in Tel Aviv – a vivid embodiment of the digital future.
Why Fascism is So Tempting
– And How Your Data Could Power It
In an enlightening talk about technology and power, author and historian Yuval Noah Harari explains the important differences between fascism and nationalism — and what the consolidation of our data means for the future of democracy.
Appearing as a hologram from Tel Aviv, Harari says the greatest danger now facing liberal democracy is that the revolution in information technology will make dictatorships more efficient and capable of control.
“The enemies of liberal democracy hack our feelings of fear and hate and vanity, and then use these feelings to polarize and destroy,” Harari says. “It is the responsibility of all of us to get to know our weaknesses and make sure they don’t become weapons.”
(Followed by a brief conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson)
Click here for Yuval’s bio on TED.com.
Yuval’s books:
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