You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.
– Yuval Noah Harari
What is it that’s special about Homo Sapiens? What allowed us to climb to the top of the ecological ladder and dominate the planet so ruthlessly until the very future of our planet is in doubt at the beginning of the 21st Century? Many reasons are given, such as our intelligence due to possessing brains larger and more powerful than those of any other species in history, learning to control and use fire, our ability to use our hands to hold and manipulate objects, the ability to devise tools and, of course, the power of having languages.
But is there one thing that we can say propelled us from mid-level creatures on the food chain to its supreme rulers, fending off and controlling animals bigger and more powerful than us, while successfully moving into every possible niche on this planet? Continue reading “Sapiens & Stories”