Actually this explains even better than I can, why Matiases “we” model posted the other day is so misguided. There are of course two “we” the small we, family and friends, which must be common to all social animals because it would be impossible to function socially without it, and the larger “we” community, state, religion etc. which are part of the big fictions. They can only therefore follow after language and the beginnings of culture, and not before, the “we” being a development of the fictions and not their creator.

It’s a great video which offers pertinent insights about humanity. I enjoyed the humor also.

I wonder if the word “fiction” is the correct word to use in connection with mass human cooperation. Take money for example. It is true that a dollar bill has no intrinsic value, but that misses the point of money. The monetary system as a whole is an accounting system that greatly facilitates trading. Trading is not a fiction.

The borders of a nation are sort of a fiction in that they exist as mind-stuff, but the nation itself is not fiction. A nation is the people who live there. It is through cooperation that those people organize themselves into a nation. Cooperation precedes the fiction. We think up labels or symbols for things like countries, corporations, religions because it’s more efficient for communication. The tail of labels does not wag the dog of substance.

This is the single most important truth which everyone should understand, the source of both all we have and all our curses. I have never seen a better or more important video on line, everybody should watch this. We gain so much simply, because evolution by natural selection has no foresight, and therefore it could not have planned for the effects of the biggest change in our environment which ever happened, the invention of abstract language, which enabled us not only to invent better fictions but also to spread them far and wide. If it had been able to foresee that, then the short term losses to the indivdual that following fictions cause, would have prevented the whole developement of human culture.

A dialogue between Death (yes the grim reaper itself) and her granddaughter (by adoption... is complicated) about lies on the book Hoghfather (a kind of Santa Claus in that universe)

“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."

REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"

MY POINT EXACTLY.”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Humans or sapiens have proven to be the more successful predator. Knocked off all the other similar species and are now left with beating up on each other.