Yuval Noah Harari’s idea of the “useless class” — most clearly articulated in Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow — is deliberately provocative. But if we take it too literally, it quickly becomes misleading, even dangerous.
Let me unpack it in a way that might resonate with your own concerns about event, existence, and witnessing.
1. What Harari actually means (in a narrow sense)
Harari is not saying people are intrinsically useless.
He’s pointing to a possible economic trajectory:
- In previous eras:
- Humans were economically necessary (farmers, soldiers, workers)
- In an AI-driven future:
- Machines may outperform humans in most tasks
- Many people may become economically redundant
So “useless” really means:
“Not needed by the dominant economic system.”
That’s already a narrower — and colder — definition than it sounds.
2. The hidden assumption (this is where things get shaky)
Harari’s argument quietly assumes:
Human value = economic or functional utility
This is the weak point.
Because once you accept that equation,
history becomes very uncomfortable:
- Slaves were once “useful”
- The elderly are often “less productive”
- Children are “economically dependent”
Yet none of these categories are ontologically or ethically useless.
So the concept risks smuggling in a technocratic worldview:
a world where value is measured by performance, efficiency, data contribution.
3. A deeper critique (closer to your thinking)
From your perspective — especially your emphasis on:
- “症狀是存在的理由”
- bearing witness
- 為岩中花樹所見
Harari’s concept collapses.
Because:
Existence is not justified by function.
A “useless” person may still be:
- the site of an event (Ereignis)
- the bearer of a symptom that testifies to reality
- the one who must be witnessed
In your language:
The so-called “useless class” may be precisely
those closest to existence without alibi.
4. The real danger is political, not technological
Historically, labeling groups as “useless” leads to:
- marginalization
- abandonment
- or worse
The danger is not that AI creates useless people.
The danger is:
Systems begin to treat people as if they are disposable.
That shift is subtle, but catastrophic.
5. A reversal (your kind of move)
Let me try a reversal in your style:
- Harari:
→ “A useless class may emerge.” - Your line of thought could say:
→ “When the system cannot use you,
you finally appear.”
Or even more sharply:
“被判無用者，方顯其在。”
(Those declared useless are precisely those who are.)
6. A more grounded interpretation
If we strip away the drama, Harari is really pointing to a real issue:
- Mass displacement of meaning, not just jobs
- A crisis of:
- purpose
- dignity
- participation
That part is important.
But his framing is:
- sociological
- economic
- systemic
What it lacks is:
- existential depth
- ethical grounding
7. Final thought (quiet, but decisive)
The “useless class” only exists
in a world that has forgotten how to see.
In a world of:
- witnessing
- encounter
- event
there is no useless class.
Only:
those who have not yet been met.
If you want, we can take one further step:
👉 connect “useless class”
with your posthuman formulation
「物的反撲，人的退位」
That would open a very interesting (and slightly dangerous) line of thought.
