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SUMMARY:The Rise of Data Religion - Yuval Noah Harari (Hebrew University)
DTSTART:20160906T100000Z
DTEND:20160906T113000Z
UID:TALK66947@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Yang Liu
DESCRIPTION:CSER public lecture with "Professor Yuval Harari":http://www.y
 nharari.com.  Response by "Professor Andrew Briggs":http://www.materials.o
 x.ac.uk/peoplepages/briggs.html  and panel discussion chaired by "Lord Mar
 tin Rees":http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~mjr/.\n\n*Abstract*\n\nThe most intere
 sting place in the world from a religious perspective is not the Middle Ea
 st\, but rather Silicon Valley. That is where the new religions of the twe
 nty-first centuryare being created. Particularly important is the Data Rel
 igion\, which promises humans all the traditional religious prizes – hap
 piness\, peace\, prosperity\, and even eternal life – but here on earth 
 with the help of data-processing technology\, rather than after death with
  the help of supernatural beings.\nData Religion believes that the entire 
 universe is a flow of data\, that organisms are algorithms\, and that huma
 nity's cosmic vocation is to create an all-encompassing data-processing sy
 stem – and then merge into it. On the practical level Dataists believe t
 hat given enough biometric data and enough computing power\, you could cre
 ate an external algorithm that will understand us humans much better than 
 we understand ourselves. Once this happens\, authority will shift from hum
 ans to algorithms and humanist practices such as democratic elections and 
 free markets will become as obsolete as rain dances and flint knives.\n\n*
 Biography*\n\nProf. Yuval Noah Harari is the author of the international b
 estseller Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. He was born in Haifa\, Is
 rael\, in 1976. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in 200
 2\, and is now a lecturer at the Department of History\, the Hebrew Univer
 sity of Jerusalem. \n\nHe specialized in World History\, medieval history 
 and military history. His current research focuses on macro-historical que
 stions: What is the relation between history and biology? What is the esse
 ntial difference between Homo sapiens and other animals? Is there justice 
 in history? Does history have a direction? Did people become happier as hi
 story unfolded?\n\nProf. Harari also teaches a MOOC (Massive Open Online C
 ourse) titled A Brief History of Humankind. More than 80\,000 students fro
 m throughout the world have participated in the first run of the course in
  2013. The second run began in August 2014\, and in its first three weeks 
 30\,000 students joined it. 
LOCATION:The Old Combination Room\, Trinity College\, Cambridge
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