Will coronavirus change our attitudes to death? Quite the opposite (The Guardian)

Yuval Noah Harari · 20 Apr 2020

Yuval Noah Harari did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
The modern world has been shaped by the belief that humans can outsmart and defeat death

Their wordsThe modern world has been shaped by the belief that humans can outsmart and defeat death. That was a revolutionary new attitude.
Our reading
Nationalism is the only modern ideology that still gives death a central role

Their wordsThe only modern ideology that still awards death a central role is nationalism.
Our reading
Covid-19 will not make us accept death; it will double our efforts to protect life

Their wordsWill the current pandemic change human attitudes to death? Probably not. Just the opposite. Covid-19 will probably cause us to only double our efforts to protect human lives.
Our reading
Today mass deaths from disasters are seen as preventable human failures, not divine punishment

Their wordsWhenever some disaster kills many people – a train accident, a high-rise fire, even a hurricane – we tend to view it as a preventable human failure rather than as divine punishment or an inevitable natural calamity.
Our reading
We should trust science with epidemics but still face our own mortality ourselves

Their wordsWe need a balanced approach here. We should trust science to deal with epidemics, but we should still shoulder the burden of dealing with our individual mortality and transience.
Our reading
Governments should build better healthcare systems and leave philosophy to individuals

Their wordsGovernments really should focus on building better healthcare systems. It is up to individuals to do better philosophy.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.