Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

As with sapiens and homo Deus, Harari has presented a compelling story and many questions and possible answers to think on.

For those who haven't read previous book of Yuval it's a great reading. I have read all his previous books, it's more of a revision for me. But his books is like epic poem; you may like to read it often and you make new insights from it. Must read for everyone but those who have read his previous book may feel a bit disappointed.

“Nexus” by Yuval Noah Harari is a superb book, and it is the first book of his that I have thoroughly enjoyed. In a world where algorithms play an outsized role in influencing our communication, thoughts, moods, and opinions, this book offers a timely history of communication networks and how they have grown and influenced human thought.
Yuval divided his book into ‘human networks,’ ‘the inorganic network,’ and ‘computer politics.’ He makes a crucial point that many authors miss when they write about the importance of the Gutenberg press in spreading ideas. Tools like the Gutenberg press enable information networks, and people use or misuse these tools to create and build information networks.
Throughout the book, Yuval emphasizes that information is not knowledge or wisdom, which we forget in our so-called ‘information age.’
The first section ends with a brief chapter on democracy and totalitarianism. In an ideal situation, democracy contains self-correcting mechanisms. However, Yuval did not analyze how democracies are often failing today. The author distinguishes between authoritarianism and totalitarianism, creating the perfect platform for launching the next section, ‘The Inorganic Network.’
The second section comprises three chapters: distinguishing between computers and the printing press, emphasizing how the network is always on, always hungry for data, and how it is often wrong. The networked world we live in today is always wide awake, roving the world with open eyes. However, since they use past behavior to make predictions and rely on data, these networks often make more errors than we realize. However, these errors are costly, as Yuval explains in the book.
Yuval dedicates the last section to computer politics and how these networks play out in the democratic and totalitarian worlds. In my opinion, he is too optimistic about democratic societies. While democracies ought to have self-correcting mechanisms, recent crackdowns on pro-Palestinian supporters do not augur well for democracies. Yuval makes a critical point: voting mechanisms do not create democracies. The inorganic networks play different roles in totalitarian regimes. Yuval raises essential points about democracies and the continued failure to hold conversations.
Ultimately, will the world get divided into those who control information networks, those who use them, or those who allow the information networks to use them?
This book is excellent, his best to date, and will give you much food for thought.

Intersubjective realities have helped humans forge co-operation among strangers and build institutions which have placed them at the top of the food chain. This book beautifully tells us how we are the smartest as well as the stupidest creatures alive. What an experience!

Its not about history only, it is a multi dimensional book