What Is Information? Yuval Noah Harari on Networks, Truth, Power and AI

In the opening episode of the Thinking on Paper Book Club, Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson begin reading Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus and examine its central question: what is information, and how has it shaped human history?

The discussion moves from ancient myths and religious stories to political institutions, mass media and artificial intelligence. Harari argues that human societies are built through information networks that allow large groups to cooperate, but these networks don’t always produce truth.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What information is

• How information networks create power

• Why truth and information aren’t the same thing

• How stories and myths help humans cooperate

• The relationship between information, reality and belief

• Why symbols can carry different meanings in different systems

• How networks shape societies for better and worse

• What artificial intelligence changes about the production and distribution of information

• Whether Harari’s account of human history is convincing

• How Nexus connects ancient information systems with modern AI

This is a live and unscripted book-club discussion. Mark and Jeremy test Harari’s ideas rather than simply summarising them, asking where his arguments hold up and where they require more scrutiny.

The episode introduces the main themes of Nexus: information, networks, truth, power and the growing role of AI in human society.

Please enjoy the show.

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Timestamps

TIMESTAMPS(00:00) - Welcome: Disruptors and Curious Minds, CEOs, Founders, and Book Lovers(00:50) - Revisiting Previous Books in the Thinking On Paper Book Club(01:08) - Exploring the Brief History of Information Networks(01:33) - Debate: Dust Jackets on Books - Yes or No?(02:40) - Insights from the Nexus Prologue(03:08) - Is Yuval Noah Harari’s Perspective Too Dramatic?(04:54) - The Naïve View of Information Explained(05:58) - The Growing Spectre of Artificial Intelligence(06:48) - Understanding Delusional Networks in Human History(10:03) - Exploring the Relationship Between Truth, Wisdom, and Power(13:52) - Yuval Noah Harari's Definition: What Is Information?(16:58) - The Story of Cher Ami: Information as the Transfer of a Story(17:36) - Most Information Does Not Represent Anything – What Does That Mean?(19:49) - Misinformation, Disinformation, and the Dove of Peace(21:37) - Why Truth Is Not the Same as Reality(28:00) - Music as a Medium of Information and Communication(29:26) - AI-Generated Art and the Importance of Micro Decisions(31:07) - Music, Silence, and the Information You Don't Say(34:57) - Information in the Context of Quantum Mechanics

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