Philosopher, historian and bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari regularly travels to India to practice Vipassana. “If not for meditation, I’d still be researching medieval military history and not talking about Neanderthals and cyborgs,” he shared during an absorbing session at the Times Litfest 2023. “The key thing when writing big history is the ability to focus. You need clarity of mind, and meditation provided me with this kind of clarity.”
When it comes to making sense of our world today, Harari’s is among the most insightful and perspicuous voices. On history, for example, the Israeli author is able to slice through the din of polarised debates and focus on what’s important. “The point about history is that it is not the past; history is the study of change. History should be relevant to how we live today, to the questions that concern us right now,” he explained.
