NEW DELHI, March 3 -- Mythmakers take over power ...

Yuval Noah Harari begins his book Nexus (Penguin, 2024) with the assertion, "Power isn't wisdom." He fears that Modern Man is no wiser than Stone Age Man. In history, we see society repeatedly entrusting power to the most unfit: Hitler and Stalin in the last century, charlatans, cheats, boasters, and bullies in our own days.

Curiously, such leaders thrive on the ignorance of the masses, blind followers who are mesmerised by their leader's delusive oratory. Hitler and Stalin hated the truth. They marginalised intellectuals, perceptive people, and critics. As George Orwell says, they sturdily believe that ignorance is strength, objective truth, and an abomination.

Power manufactures it...