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I don't think Yuval is trying to "big brain", just rationalize what the world will become under the need of "emergency" like here, Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus[1], he's not shown interest in "speculating" the origins of the virus or how the pandemic begins so compare this trait to some other "big brain" out there

[1] https://www.ft.com/content/19d90308-6858-11ea-a3c9-1fe6fedcc...

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>Centralised monitoring and harsh punishments aren’t the only way to make people comply with beneficial guidelines. When people are told the scientific facts, and when people trust public authorities to tell them these facts, citizens can do the right thing even without a Big Brother watching over their shoulders. A self-motivated and well-informed population is usually far more powerful and effective than a policed, ignorant population.

Of all Harari's predictions, this one was the most depressing when we found out it was false.

I don't see how it's false.

"when people trust public authorities to tell them these facts" - There was a lot of mixed messaging from authorities going on in the first half of 2020, so I can understand why citizens are mistrustful (even though I may disagree with a lot of their conclusions).

FYI I tried to understand this comment and failed. It being one big sentence is probably part of the reason.

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