​This weekend, after finishing Homo Deus:  A Brief History of Tomorrow, an intriguing book by Yuval Noah Harari (Also available in Chinese Edition),  I started thinking more about questions regarding the future and what gives life meaning and purpose? And in this age of globalization and automation, what if we - the human race - run out of stuff to do?   

The author's previous book, Sapiens, explains how our kinds - humans - came to rule the world.   Although I haven't read the book, I've read great reviews, and it's on my reading list.  

Homo Deus is a quite challenging book, but very smooth and enjoyable.  Rather than looking back, it looks to the future of the world.  I don't entirely agree with everything in the book, but it has been written very thoughtfully about what all of us, our children, grandchildren and our future generations may encounter in the future.  

Harari argues the systems that have created our community, and our way of life will surely undergo an enormous shift in the 21st century, with significant consequence for life as we comprehend it.  

He argues that we have adjusted and organized in ways to satisfy fundamental and essential human needs:  being comfortable and happy, healthy and in control of the environment around us.  But what would the world be like if we accomplish those things?  

It is quite terrifying, but he foresees a likely future where some elites upgrade and improve themselves through biotechnology and genetic engineering.  Therefore, leaving the masses behind and creating the supernatural or divine species of the book's title; where artificial intelligence, "knows us better than we know ourselves" and where these supernatural elites and super-intelligent robots consider the rest of humanity to be unnecessary and frankly useless.  

The future according to Homo Deus is a kind that robots take over, but is not the most interesting to me.  Yes, artificial intelligence gets more powerful, and it is up to us to be sure that it assists, helps and serves humanity and not the other way around.   Come to think of it; this is more an engineering problem than some science fiction.  And If we look at it this way, it becomes a control problem.  

But, I think, we - the human race - are more drawn to the determination and purpose problem.  Let's say that we have control, and we even solved significant problems like starvation and illness, and the world kept becoming more and more peaceful:  What purpose would humans have then?  What challenges and tests would we be excited and fired up to solve?  

Maybe the fear of future should not be about an attack by super smart robots like we see in Hollywood movies, but a lack of purpose and determination.    

"What if a peaceful, healthy life was guaranteed for every child on Earth?  How would that change the part parents play?"  I think about this question in my own life.  My family gives my life a sense of purpose and meaning,  I want to be a good husband, son, brother, friend and later father.    

In the book, Harari tries to solve the purpose problem.  He implies that finding a new purpose requires us to develop a new ritual - using the world in a much broader sense than most people do, something like "organizing principles that direct our lives."  

In the final portion of the book, he discusses a religion he calls "Dataism," in which the greatest moral right is to increase the flow of information.  Dataism "has nothing against human experience,"  he writes.  "It just doesn't think they have intrinsic value."  Despite my admiration or criticism of the book and its ending,  it is a deeply engaging work with many exciting and inspiring ideas. 

It truly made me think about the future, which is a different form of saying it makes me ponder about the present.  


I urge you to read this book.  It left me with more questions than answers.   

In one of my kitchen conversations, I found out that Haiyang was a mathematics major in college.  We talked about it for a bit.  I confess, I was never a good math student and found every opportunity to run away from it.  

But I guess the beauty of mathematics only shows itself to its most patient students.  

The true beauty of math.  Take your time and go through it slowly.  

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321



1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111


9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

This was interesting, right?

Now take a look at the beauty of these proportions below.

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Now maybe this is worth thinking about.  It will be fun.

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Equal to:
1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 

Is hard work enough to achieve a happy and prosperous life?
Hard work
H+a+r+d+w+o+r+k=8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11= 98%

Will knowledge make us fully successful in life? 
Knowledge
K+n+o+w+l+e+d+g+e=11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5= 96%

How about love?
Love
L+o+v+e=12+15+22+5= 54%

I always thought that knowledge and hard work are the most important elements of a happy and prosperous life.

What will get us to 100%?  

Money? 
Money
M+o+n+e+y=13+15+14+5+25= 72%

This is not enough either.

So what do we need to get to the top and the 100%?

Attitude
A+t+t+I+t+u+d+e=1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5= 100%

Yes, Attitude.  It is that little thing that makes a huge difference, in love, in work, in knowledge and more important, in life.

Perhaps, Albert Einstein was right, pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.  I guess Professor Einstein had the right attitude about math and life.   

I will not take credit for putting together the arithmetic operations in this email, but I am beginning to like mathematics more and more. I suppose my attitude is changing about math, thanks to Haiyang for the poetry of logical ideas, and a valuable life lesson at our very own kitchen.