Why humans run the world?

Best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari argues in a TedTalk that Homo Sapiens have undergone a massive transformation from insignificant apes to the ruler of this planet. He tells the distinctive feature of Homo Sapiens which led to their glory. He argues that human beings are distinct from other species in one aspect. Human beings have the ability to cooperate flexibly in very large numbers. While the other species lack in this regard. Take the example of bees. They can cooperate with each other but their cooperation is not flexible; instead, it is rigid. Bees cannot change their social structure overnight. They cannot execute the queen and install a communist dictatorship. There are some animals that can cooperate flexibly but in very small numbers. Only Homo Sapiens have this unique characteristic.

 

Now the question arises: how do human beings make it possible? The answer lies in the fact that human beings believe and create fictional stories. They have belief in both objectives as well as fictional realities. Human beings have created fictional stories in almost every aspect of life. You have to perform the good deeds else god would punish you in the life hereafter. Nation-states have no objective value. They are only imaginations. But they have been so deeply entrenched in humans' lives that people often sacrifice their lives for their respective nation-states. Similarly, money does not have any objective value. Yet it has been made a reality by bankers, finance ministers, and prime ministers.

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