Yuval Noah Harari: "Man is now a hackable animal"
The Israeli military historian Yuval Noah Harari is an author and professor at the Faculty
of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
He is praised by personalities such as Barack Obama, Angela Merkel,
Emmanuel Macron and Sebastian Kurz and is consulted
as a source of inspiration and advisor.
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF)
and author of the book "Covid-19: The Great Reset",
describes Yuval Noah Harari as a brilliant futurologist.
During his appearances at the World Economic Forum in 2018 and 2020
or the Athens Democracy Forum 2020, Harari spoke about technological development and
what it means for society, politics, religion and ideology.
In his lectures, he repeatedly points out that,
for the first time in human history, it is now possible to
observe and track people anytime and anywhere.
AI algorithms process enormous amounts of information at a very high speed and have
the potential to remember everything and
recognize patterns in the data for personality-related analyses.
Harari says: "A
system that understands us better than we understand
ourselves can predict our feelings and decisions,
can manipulate our feelings and decisions and
can ultimately make decisions for us."
According to Harari, the coronavirus pandemic has opened the door to "surveillance under the skin".
Quote: "I think when people look back in a few decades, they will
remember the Covid crisis mainly because it was the
moment when everything went digital.
And this was the moment when everything was
monitored, when we agreed to be constantly monitored, not only
in authoritarian regimes but also in democracies.
(...) And perhaps most importantly, this was the moment
when the surveillance started to get under your skin.
(...) And I think the big process that's going on in the world right
now is the hacking of people - the ability to hack people, to understand
what's going on deep inside them, what makes them tick, what drives them.
And the most important data is not what they read, who they meet and what they buy.
It's what's going on in her body."
Furthermore, the historian said in an interview in 2020:
"(...) but some governments and companies are able to systematically
hack people for the first time in history.
There's a lot of talk about hacking computers, smartphones and bank accounts,
but THE thing of our time is the ability to hack people.
(...) Humans are now hackable animals.
You know, the whole idea that people have, you know, that
they have this soul or spirit and their free will, and nobody
knows what's going on inside of me.
So whatever I choose, be it at the polls or in the supermarket
- that is my free will. That's over!"
What the "futuristic" history professor tells us is not fiction.
Many companies around the world are working on technologies
to implant sensors under the skin.
Some technologies are already mature and available on the market.
Among other things, it is intended to cure diseases, enhance people's abilities
or simply make life more comfortable.
The range is wide.
For example, the British-Polish company Walletmor has been offering
implantable payment chips since last year.
These can be injected under the skin and, according to Walletmor, are approved by the
authorities and work wherever contactless payments are accepted.
People use tiny microchip implants to unlock
their bicycle, as a key replacement for their home or to enter the office.
Cochlear implants restore hearing ability.
Diabetics wear sensors to measure blood glucose levels in the subcutaneous tissue.
Their supreme discipline is the "brain-computer interface" (BCI), i.e. brain-computer interfaces
that network the brain with the computer or digital platforms, e.g. clouds.
Several big tech companies, including Facebook and Microsoft, and technology investors such as Elon Musk
are funding projects that are developing the use of BCI devices.
US government agencies are also investigating applications of the technology
to create super soldiers that
can communicate telepathically with each
other or control swarms of drones by thought.
Researchers at Stanford University have coupled artificial intelligence software with a BCI device
implanted in the brain of a man with full-body paralysis.
The software was able to decode the information from the BCI
and convert the man's thoughts on a computer screen.
Synchron, a New York start-up company,
has already received approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration
of the United States)
to test the implantable brain device called "Stentrode"
on human patients in a so-called early feasibility study.
Stentrode is placed in a vein in the part of the endbrain that
generates all the signals associated with movement.
The device is designed to enable patients to control digital devices wirelessly with their thoughts.
The system is intended for patients who suffer from paralysis due to various diseases.
Under the guise of curing some diseases and
as an innovation, mainly positive aspects of brain implants are emphasized.
But what would happen if such implants were misused as instruments of power?
Back in 2016, WEF founder Klaus Schwab spoke in an interview about implantable microchips,
first in our clothes and then in our brains or under our skin.
The aim is to enable direct communication between our brain and the digital world.
Another goal is to connect people to 6G and the Internet of Things.
According to Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark, the upcoming 6G mobile communications standard should
be ready for the market by 2030.
At this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, he said:
"The smartphone as we know it today will no longer be the most common interface".
Instead, future devices would be "built directly into our bodies".
According to Lundmark, brain sensors are to be used to control machines.
Holograms will also become massively more important,
and by 2030 there will be a "digital twin" of almost everything, predicts Lundmark.
These technologies are touted as great technical achievements that are supposed
to make life easier.
As promising as brain-computer interfaces may be, they also
bring with them the potential for total surveillance and even mind-reading.
If a brain-computer interface stores your memories in the cloud, the company
would have access to your most intimate and private information!
Will the BCI company sell your digital profile,
just like social media sites can sell your user data?
What if this technology was combined with a social credit system,
as is already the case in China?
This is because many countries sympathize with the social credit system
in China and a uniform digital identity.
It was recently announced that a "Smart Citizen" pilot project will be launched in Bologna (Italy) in the fall. Wallet" starts.
This is the first social credit system on European soil.
Virtuous Behavior earns points and can be exchanged for rewards.
In China, misconduct is also sanctioned accordingly.
Biotechnologist Markus Schmidt looks at why we humans are increasingly
merging with technology and what people can expect when they are connected
to the Internet of Things.
He is working with other scientists on the international research project "Future Body".
In an interview with the Berliner Zeitung, the scientist commented on this
as follows: "Neurotechnology encompasses various technologies
and processes that interact directly with our
nervous system, for example via brain-computer interfaces.
This includes, for example, the "Internet of Living Things",
which aims to connect the brain to the network, or implants
in the body, which are intended to give people new senses.
(...) At the moment, neurotechnology is still about technologies for the sick or people with disabilities.
But optimization is continuing and soon healthy people will probably also be using these technologies. (...)
Of course, you don't have to join in with this trend, but it is becoming increasingly difficult.
If you think about what it would be like to live without a telephone,
computer and bank account today, you realize how much we depend on them.
And this will continue to be the case in the future.
At a certain point, it is almost impossible not to join in.
(...) Without a brain chip, you become a second-class human being, even though you are healthy.
We ask ourselves:
Will a normal person have the status in future that a person with a disability has today?
On the other hand, there could also be a selection advantage for those who do not have a brain chip.
Perhaps because they are then not susceptible to cyber attacks."
Terrorist cyberattacks on the human body or even targeted "disciplining" by the government?
This ties in with what the Israeli scientist Harari proclaimed, that
we humans are hackable animals - without free will.
However, each individual's consumer behavior determines whether
these technologies and products disappear from the market again due to a lack of demand.
You too can help to disseminate this information.
Let's not be blinded by the arguments of global strategists
and also look at the other side of the coin that technological progress brings with it.
Because our human existence goes far beyond our rational existence.
We are spiritual beings with incredible, intuitive abilities - unique creatures who
have a right to free development of their personality and individuality!
What we say, feel, think and do has a direct impact on our environment - no artificial intelligence can replace this reality.