In the age of artificial intelligence and the digital revolution, what does “human” even mean? Why do we feel the need to say: “let’s stay human”? Where will our evolutionary path take us? The extraordinary multiplicity and diversity of what defines us – organic matter, a brain, a mind, consciousness, a wide range of emotions – makes it difficult to find a definitive answer. A great Italian scientist, who has always been sensitive to the links between scientific and humanistic knowledge, lays claim to this complexity and runs through the many facets of being human as if they were pearls on a string. He explores their potential balance, or their asymmetry, along a set of basic axes shaping our lives: reason / feeling, altruism / selfishness, equality / inequality, happiness / discontent. This book is both a challenge and an adventure, an opportunity for comparison and discussion – especially timely in light of the current cultural environment.

Edoardo Boncinelli, a renowned geneticist, formerly taught Biology and Genetics at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, where he led its Molecular Biology Laboratory, and is a former director of International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste.