I started reading Homo Deus yesterday, I'm only about 50 pages in but enjoying it so far. I haven't noticed much doom and gloom in it yet, in fact the first few sections are about the positives of the modern age (advances in medicine, eradication of famine, etc).
Without giving any spoilers, unfortunately, as the book (Homo Deus) progresses, there's more and more speculation.
He also wrote a third book, that will come out in a week, with a heavily click-bait title :-( 21 Lessons for the 21st Century—I just can't stomach the lacklustre title, and probably just stay away from it, as I'd assume it'll be a "thin wrapper" around his two other books.
Sapiens was the book I enjoyed 3 years ago, before it became popular. Reading that single book gives insight into his fresh and original perspectives.
True, the book is indeed about "future", so I of course accept that by definition there will be speculation. I'd be lying if I didn't find the book valuable. I think my gripe is about his not-so-strong solutions—but the author does admit upfront that he sees his role as a historian is to raise questions. So maybe my complaint was unfair :-)
My memory is fading, but I appreciate the three "key questions" he asks to think about at the end of the book (transcribing looking at the physical copy near me):
- Are organisms really just algorithms, and is life really just data processing?
- What's more valuable—intelligence or consciousness?
- What will happen to society, politics and daily life when non-conscious but highly intelligent algorithms know us better than we know ourselves?
