Yuval Noah Herari

Yuval Noah Herari is a modern-day writer who has written four significant books. Sapiens - the story of the history of humanity, Homo Deus – the story of the developing beliefs of humanity, Nexus – the development of Artificial Intelligence, and Twenty-one lessons for the Twenty First Century – a comprehensive description of issues we face in the coming century. I have valued reading these books for the insights they cover of many facets of life. He is prolific as his sales of $45 million indicate. It must be concluded that he is an influential writer spreading his thoughts to millions.

In his most recent book, ‘Twenty-one lessons for the twenty first century’, he draws the conclusion that the modern era of science is the pinnacle of knowledge. He draws the conclusion that all knowledge and experiences arise from the interaction of neurons, synapses and neurotransmitters, and that all other means of knowledge and experience are to be regarded as secondary. Going way back in time, he is relatively dismissive of myth carrying any value. Myth was the major form of accumulating knowledge for thousands of years. Did it mean nothing? Philosophy, and theology were regarded as profound even if expressed in unacceptable terms in today’s concepts. Knowledge of the law evolved with laws appropriate for that time but may be seen as lesser than the laws of today. They cannot be dismiss as appropriate for the time they were prepared. The accumulation of knowledge cannot be dismissed as worth nothing. The story of science has only gradually developed through the centuries. Yes, it has advanced in leaps and bounds over the recent decades, as the mythologies of life have diminished in importance for many. But it must also be acknowledged that the sciences have formerly indicated theories which now have proved inaccurate, for example the sun revolving around the earth. The accuracies of recent times certainly are of an enormous advance and presumably will continue to improve but the development of all forms of knowledge will continue to grow as well. Modern science is just in its birthing years. Nobody knows what will happen with knowledge in the coming years, both scientific and philosophy, psychology, sociology and theology.

Science is leading the fields of knowledge at the moment but to dismiss the value of all other forms of knowledge as invaluable is a gross injustice to the way humans have built the world of understanding. It may have been inaccurate and incomplete but not without insight. The story of Adam and Eve has lost meaning except for the point that God created all, this is a truth still regarded by many. It is myth. Myth engages with the mind in different ways to modern knowledge. The details may be wrong but the symbolic truth can be profound. This is the case for all theories set in the era for which they were applicable.

The new scientific knowledge is profound, but there is no telling how much longer it will carry that mantle. For example, Raimon Panikkar is a philosophical, theological and scientific PhD graduate. As a Roman Catholic priest and mystic, he has spent many years in India examining the inter-faith truths of life. He has an international reputation as a leading thought authority in this field. He has built his thinking around the non-dual integral perception of life. He has coined a term, the Cosmotheandric, created from cosmos-theos-andros’. All reality is made from the integration of the Creator, the creation and the creature, the blending of the mystical, the creation and the consciousness of the human. They are not distinct from one another but each is fulfilled in the other. Distinction still interprets things in a dualistic way, which is actually contrary to the non-dual, integral perception of the Quantum world. Panikkar is very clear that he differs from Herari, who prioritises the field of science over all other realms, therefore speaking in a dualistic way. He has not grasped the advancement of knowledge into the integral world.