In the future, biotechnology and artificial intelligence will divide society into superhumans and a useless class. The masses will lose their economic and political influence and at the same time can not afford to improve their physical data with the help of technology. As a result, the society will split into biological castes, the Israeli historian Yuval Noi Harari predicts in his column in The Guardian.

In his column, Yuval Noah Harari, author of "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow", recalls the stages in the development of human society. He notes that with the emergence of private property, inequality between people has intensified. But humanism, liberalism and socialism directed this process in the opposite direction. In addition, industrial economies needed a mass army and mass labor, so they invested in the health care system, education and social support of the masses.

However, in the post-industrial world, people lose their former importance and become superfluous. Armies are bypassed by a group of professional military men who control drones and robots, and factories replace workers with smart machines and machines. According to Harari, the decline in the role of the masses in society will lead to the formation of a useless class.

"In the 21st century, inequality in society will reach a historical maximum," writes the historian.

The development of biotechnology and bioengineering will make it possible to turn economic inequality into a biological. A small group of people, the elite, will be able to "pump" their body and brain, improving their physical and cognitive abilities. Self-perfection is expensive, so it will be available only to units. "As a result, humanity will split into biological castes," Harari predicts..

At the same time, the historian notes that in the past the position of a person was not determined by his intellect or strength. The average duke did not have great talents, than the peasant, his superiority was due only to the legal and economic situation. "However, by 2100 the rich can really become more talented, creative and intelligent than the poor. As soon as this gap arises between the poor and the rich, nothing can be changed, "the expert warns..

Perhaps, Harari suggests, some states, in which the humanistic ideals are rooted, will continue to support the masses, even despite their uselessness.

For example, give them access to video games and virtual worlds. But other countries, for example, China, Brazil or South Africa, can throw an extra class overboard.

Harari comes to the conclusion that globalization, in favor of which many leaders of IT companies speak, will not give people equality and freedom.

"Globalization will unite the world vertically, that is, erase national differences, but at the same time divide humanity horizontally," concludes the historian. As a result, inequality will reach an unimaginable scale.

And yet, the development of technology has never been deterministic. The society itself will choose what will be the world under their influence. Harari cites the example of the DPRK and South Korea, which, having originally the same technology, went on a diametrically different path.

Source: High Tech.