comparative review of Yuval Noah Harari 21 lessons for the 21st century vs.The meaning of the 21st century -A vital blueprint for ensuring our future by James Martin

Two very different writers coming from different disciplines tackles the issues of the new century.James Martin is a leading authority in computing.In 2005 he founded the James Martin 21st century School at Oxford University which links together many insitutes and top academics concered with the future.He was a member of the software Scientific Advisory Board of the US department of Defence and founder of Headstrong which designs and develops complex systems that enable firms to create real business value. In contrastYuval Noah Harari,is a historian who graduated from the University of Oxford and is a specialist in world history. I will look at how James Martin debunks some common misconceptions. >We believed nature's resources were unlimited It seemed ,until the 20th century,that we could plunder the environment at will.When colonists landed in a new place,they killed its creatures for food until some became extinct.If they exhausted the sresources of one area,they move on to another.By the end of the 20th century,it was clear not only that the Earth was limited but it had been seriously damaged by human mistreatment.We and our technology had become powerful enough th wreck the planet. >We thought technology could replace what nature does We failed to understand the extraordinary complexity of nature's topsoil and depleted much of its capability with powerful herbicides,fungicides,fertlilizers and chemical waste.Now with gene modification,we seek not the survival of the fittest butsurvival of the most profitable.New technology is essential to our future but we must use it with appropriate respect for the deep complexity of nature.We should not try to replace the wisdom of billions of yeasr of evolution with our own cleverness but instead we should build thoughtful partnerships with nature. What does Harari say on the ecological challenge On top of nuclear war,in the coming decades,humankind will face a new existential threat:ecological collapse.Humans are destabilising the global biosphere on multiple fronts.We are taking more and more resources out of the environment,while pumping back into the environment enormous amounts of waste and poison,thereby changing the composition of the soil,water and atmosphere. Most threatening of all is the prospect of climate change.Humans have been around for hundreds of thousannds of years,and have survived numerous ice ages and warm spells.However,agriculture,cities and complex societies have existed for no more than 10,000 years.During this perios known as the Holocene,Earths climate has been relatively stable.Any deviation from Holocene standards will present human societies with enormous challlnges they never encountered before.It will be like conducting an open ended experiment on billions of human guinea pigs.Even if human civilization eventually adapts to the new conditions,who knows how many victims might perish in the process of adaptation. Technology has changed everything by creating a set of global existential threats that no nation can solve on its own.A common enemy is the best catalyst for forging a common identity,and humankind now has at least 3 such enemies-nuclear war,climate change and technological disruptions.If, despite these common threats,humans choose to privilege national loyalties above everything else,the results may be far worse than in 1914-1918 and 1939-1944.We need a new global identity because national institutions are incapable of handling a set of unprecendented global predicaments.We now have a global ecology,a global economy and a global science- but we are still stuck with only national politics. As the covid pandemic shows,viruses do not need passports to travel and globalizatio has sped up the spread.so nationalist sentiments need to be put aside and co-operation between governments needed urgently to achieve mass vaccination and herd immunity before the economic disruption and loss of lives changes our lives in the 21st century to one of fear and isolation.Just as statesman Like Winston Churchhill could put aside ideological difference to worl together with the Russians to defeat fascism in Europe,so we are hoping statesmen can put aside narrow nationalism to work to a common goal to defeat the invisible enemy of Covid 19 going on to Covid 21 or Covid 22.Its the new war against an invisible foe