Says historian Yuval Noah Harari, “Darwin is the prophet of sexual liberation.” I’ve never heard evolution and nihilism connected so clearly and concisely: “In biology there are no purposes. Nothing has any purpose in biology. In biology there are only causes.” He was speaking in the context of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, which was yesterday, but the implications vastly exceed sexuality. As he writes in an accompanying post on X, “Nothing in nature has a purpose and nothing that exists is unnatural.”
Nothing in nature has a purpose and nothing that exists is unnatural. Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.#Darwin #LGBTQI #InternationalDayAgainstHomophobia pic.twitter.com/BkVJwJ9ELa
— Yuval Noah Harari (@harari_yuval) May 17, 2025
I also don’t recall having heard an evolutionist speak so openly about Darwin not as a scientist but as a “prophet,” or so bluntly about what that means. This is one to file away in your memory. In this context, I don’t mind going to Wikipedia because it reflects a baseline for how lots of people think in our culture, for better or worse. Under nihilism, it says correctly, “Existential nihilism asserts that life is inherently meaningless and lacks a higher purpose.” Exactly what Harari is talking about. Thanks for the clarity!
H/t Nathan Jacobson.