This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.
Nexus
Throughout human history, the story of progress has been shaped by the invisible threads that bind us—information networks. These networks are not merely tools or technologies; they are the foundation of our civilizations, the bedrock upon which societies have risen, and sometimes, fallen. From the earliest myths whispered around a fire to the algorithms that power artificial intelligence today, humanity has continually refined how it stores, shares, and leverages information. The journey of these networks is a story of creativity, ambition, and unintended consequences.
In Nexus, we explore the intricate evolution of information networks, a tale spanning millennia. It begins in prehistory, where storytelling served as the first great network, enabling early humans to pass down essential survival knowledge, build alliances, and share values. These stories united tribes, creating bonds of trust that transcended individual experience. Over time, as humans discovered new ways to document their thoughts—on clay tablets, scrolls, and paper—the scale of these networks expanded. What once connected only a handful of people could now link entire nations.
Documents gave rise to bureaucracies and empires, but they also brought vulnerabilities. The written word, for all its permanence, was subject to errors and manipulation. As Harari notes, the fallibility of information systems has always been a double-edged sword. An empire's reliance on flawed records could lead to its undoing, just as today's dependence on algorithms can magnify systemic biases.
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