"People that feel good about themselves have done some of the most terrible things in human history. I mean, we shouldn’t confuse people feeling good about themselves and about their lives with people being benevolent and kind and so forth. And also, they wouldn’t say that their ideas are extreme...we have so many examples throughout human history, from the Roman Empire to the slave trade in the modern age and colonialism...they had a very good life, they had a very good family life and social life, they were nice people, I mean, I guess most Nazi voters were also nice people. If you meet them for a cup of coffee and you talk about your kids, they were nice people, and they think good things about themselves, and some of them...have very happy lives. And even the ideas that we look back, and say, “This was terrible. This was extreme,” they didn’t think so. Again, if you just think about colonialism…Let’s just think about European colonialism in the 19th century...in Britain, in the late 19th century...they thought that by going all over the world and conquering and changing societies in India, in Africa, in Australia, they were bringing lots of good to the world. And I’m just saying that so that we are more careful about not confusing the good feelings people have about their life…It’s not just miserable people suffering from poverty and economic crisis".
"I agree that more people have more of a voice than ever before, both in the US and globally. I think you’re absolutely right. My concern is, to what extent we can trust the voice of people…To what extent I can trust my voice?…We have this picture of the world that I have this voice inside me, which tells me what is right and what is wrong. And the more I’m able to express this voice in the outside world and influence what’s happening, the more people can express their voices, it’s better, it’s more democratic. But what happens if at the same time that more people can express...it’s also easier to manipulate your inner voice? To what extent you can really trust that the thought that just popped up in your mind is the result of some free will, and not the result of an extremely powerful algorithm that understands what’s happening inside you and knows how to push the buttons and press the levers, and is serving some external entity and it has planted this thought or this desire that you now express? So, it’s two different issues. Giving people voice and trusting…Again, I’m not saying, “I know everything, “but all these people that now join the conversation, “we cannot trust their voices.” I’m asking this about myself, to what extent I can trust my own inner voice? And, you know, I spend two hours meditating every day. And I go on these long meditation retreats. And my main takeaway from that is it’s craziness inside there. And it’s so complicated. And the simple, naïve belief that the thought that pops up in my mind, this is my free will, this was never the case. But, if say, a thousand years ago, the battles inside were mostly between, you know, neurons and biochemicals and childhood memories and all that, increasingly, you have external actors going under your skin, and into your brain, and into your mind. And how do I trust that my amygdala in not a Russian agent now? How do I know…The more we understand about the extremely complex world inside us, the less easy it is to simply trust what this inner voice is telling, is saying".
Yuval Noah Harari
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