Famine, plague, and war have lost their power to end civilizations

Harari opens by arguing that the three forces that shaped nearly all of recorded history — mass starvation, uncontrollable epidemics, and civilization-ending war — have, for the first time, been largely tamed. More people today die from obesity-related illness than from hunger, modern medicine and vaccines have turned once-catastrophic plagues into manageable risks, and while wars continue, the kind of total, empire-toppling warfare that recurred for millennia has become comparatively rare thanks to nuclear deterrence, trade interdependence, and the declining profitability of pure conquest.

He's careful to note this isn't a claim that famine, disease, or violence have vanished — clearly they haven't for many individuals and regions — but that they've stopped being the uncontrollable, civilization-defining forces they once were. This shift, Harari argues, is genuinely new in human history and frees up collective attention and resources for far more ambitious goals.

This reframing sets up the book's real subject: what humanity chooses to pursue once its oldest enemies are no longer existential threats.

Takeaway: solving old problems doesn't end history — it just clears the runway for stranger new ambitions.