{"id":639,"date":"2025-06-09T14:41:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T19:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/?p=639"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:43:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T19:43:22","slug":"book-review-nexus-by-yuval-noah-harari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/book-review-nexus-by-yuval-noah-harari\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review \u2013 Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What happens when we stop believing in shared truth? When outrage trumps understanding? When power flows not from knowledge, but from curation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/book-review-nexus-yuval-noah-harari-benoit-marcoux-um4ve\/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3B%2FsfmK%2FRFQ8qOBfcvMWIztg%3D%3D<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nexus<\/em> is not a book about energy. But it has everything to do with the way we make collective decisions\u2014about energy, climate, democracy, and survival. Harari\u2019s central insight is that humans thrive not by uncovering objective truth, but by crafting shared fictions that allow cooperation at scale. This applies as much to religion and politics as to money, nations\u2014and yes, energy transitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the energy sector, we often assume that facts will guide action. We quantify emissions, model system scenarios, and publish expert roadmaps. But Harari reminds us that truth alone rarely moves societies. The real levers are stories, institutions, and desires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take climate change: Harari critiques the idea of \u201cdoing your own research\u201d as a path to truth. He\u2019s right. No one can independently verify climate science, power grid dynamics, or lifecycle emissions. We rely on institutional curation\u2014by universities, media, regulators, even utilities. If these institutions lose trust, our ability to act collectively collapses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also draws a parallel with AI: as nonhuman intelligences shape narratives and exploit our biases, the power to curate\u2014to decide what counts as truth, and what stories are told\u2014becomes even more crucial. Just as the Bible was shaped more by those who chose the canon than by its authors, energy futures may be shaped more by those who train the algorithms and structure the debate than by the engineers designing the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean for energy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Democracy and curation<\/strong>: Energy institutions must become more transparent, plural, and accountable. If energy planning is seen as technocratic or self-serving, it will be rejected\u2014even if it\u2019s factually correct. Legitimacy matters as much as accuracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Desire vs. truth<\/strong>: Choosing between climate action and economic convenience is not a technical decision, but a societal one\u2014driven by collective desire. Energy policy must speak to values, not just cost curves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Global divergence<\/strong>: Harari warns of a split into incompatible digital spheres. A similar divergence could emerge in energy\u2014between open, interoperable systems and authoritarian techno-enclaves. Canada must choose wisely which infrastructure, values, and alliances it supports.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Fiction as a tool<\/strong>: Harari doesn\u2019t dismiss fiction\u2014he sees it as essential. The energy sector needs better fictions: credible, compelling, collective visions of what a post-carbon world can look like. Not utopias, but stories strong enough to guide action.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In short, Nexus<\/em> is a sobering call to take seriously the narrative infrastructure of our civilization. For the energy transition to succeed, we will need more than innovation and investment. We will need institutions that curate wisely, publics that desire justly, and stories that hold us together.<\/p>\n

    \r\n Shortlink:\r\n https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/book-review-nexus-by-yuval-noah-harari\/<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n
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    What happens when we stop believing in shared truth? When outrage trumps understanding? When power flows not from knowledge, but from curation? (LinkedIn: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/book-review-nexus-yuval-noah-harari-benoit-marcoux-um4ve\/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3B%2FsfmK%2FRFQ8qOBfcvMWIztg%3D%3D) Nexus is not a book about energy. But it has everything to do with the way we make collective decisions\u2014about energy, climate, democracy, and survival. Harari\u2019s central insight is that humans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":640,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions\/640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benoit.marcoux.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}