The Ability To Make Believe Changed The Course Of The World

What is it about the human brain that allowed otherwise unremarkable primates to become the most powerful species on the planet? Historian Yuval Harari explores this question in his new book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. From politics to economics to religion, Harari argues that all human cooperation can be traced back to a shared belief in fictional stories. When people believe the same fiction, they can obey the same laws and therefore cooperate on a large scale. Thanks to this unique ability, to create and believe in fiction, he says, sapiens now rule the world.