How Stories and Bureaucracy Create Power: Yuval Noah Harari on Information Networks

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Previously titled “Book Club: Nexus, Chapter 3: Your Dreams, Songs And Fantasies - How Documents Took Over the World” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 4, 2026

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Recorded11 Dec 2024

Publisheranchor.fm ↗

Handlerec:6140446

Show notes

Welcome to the Thinking On Paper Book Club! This week we're reading Chapter 3 of Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari and asking how stories shape societies and how documents transform them into systems of power and control. If you’ve ever wondered how storytelling, bureaucracy, and information networks influence the world, this discussion is for you. We start with the shift from narratives to lists, exploring how bureaucracies emerged to organize intersubjective realities. I then ask Jeremy to discuss the evolution of human collaboration, from oral traditions to written records, and how documentation has both enabled and limited societal progress. Are we hardwired for storytelling or bureaucracy? Is our dependence on documentation diminishing critical thinking? Topics range from Shakespeare’s timeless works to the complexities of modern AI and misinformation. With references to Alan Watts, Kafka, and even the biology of DNA, this is a rich discussion about the systems we create—and the power they wield over our lives. Are we shaping bureaucracy, or is it shaping us? Please enjoy the show -- Timestamps (00:00) Book Lovers (00:39) William Shakespeare (02:46) Nations Are Intersubjective Realities (04:31) Dreams, Songs And Fantasies (05:53) Writing As The Catalyst For Bureaucracy (07:34) Stories Are Intersubjective Realities (09:39) Computer Says No (11:21) Alan Watts And A Conversation With Myself (14:34) Are Humans Organised? (19:30) Movies About Bureaucracy (21:31) Emergent Systems (24:44) Non Human Information Gets To Jeremy (30:10) Disinformation Debunking -- Read more: www.thinkingonpaper.xyz -- #nexus #yuvalnoahharari #bookclub #ai

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