Words Are the Most Powerful Drug | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

Humans stand alone in the animal kingdom. Our power over nature is unparalleled. What separates us? What is it that makes us human? The answer lies in our mastery of communication: the power to express complex thoughts and ideas; to organize and think collectively. These are the engines of our success, driving our ascent from hunter-gatherers to a global civilization.

Communication is everywhere. Our technology has propelled us to a new age of interconnectedness. Waves of data pass through us at the speed of light. Music, language, art, the written word—through these tools, the boundless human imagination has been given a voice. They give us self-expression and collective knowledge.

But they have a dark side. These tools are so powerful that they distort our very perception of reality. They can subvert and corrupt, and even manipulate entire populations. Communication is what makes us, us. How did it emerge? How did it transform us into a creature that could dream, into a creature that could imagine, where millions could eventually learn to cooperate, to overcome, to transcend?

This is the story of how our world came to be; how communication defined our species and created the modern age. How it connected humanity and sent our voice on a course for the stars. This is Origins.

A collection of my best advice on meditation

Society and religion in the New England colonies | AP US History | Khan Academy

View All

Selfie Waves

[Music] Hey, Vsauce. Michael here. On July 1st of 2015, a long-standing ban was lifted. Visitors were finally allowed to take selfies at the White House. This is the first legal selfie ever taken on a White House tour. But a year before the ban was lifte…

Judicial activism and judicial restraint | US government and civics | Khan Academy

What we’re going to do in this video is talk about the terms judicial activism and judicial restraint. In many videos, we have talked about how the judicial branch, one of its main powers, is to be a check on the executive and legislative branch; that it …

Primary Elections Explained

Primary elections are how political parties in the United States pick their strongest candidate to run for president. The parties do this by holding mini-elections in each of the states, and the candidates with the most votes from these elections become t…

15 Things That Are NOT a Priority in Life

Not everything they tell you is a priority is actually a priority. In reality, most of the things society is trying to push as the norm aren’t actually doing you any good in the long run. It might be time to reconsider some stuff. So, by the end of this v…

The Assassin's Water Bottle

This water bottle allows you to carry two different liquids and dispense them from the same nozzle separately or together at your command. It’s a collaboration between myself and Steve Mold that you can pre-order now. It all started when Steve and I were…

THE FED JUST FLIPPED | Major Changes Explained

What’s up you guys, it’s Graham here. So throughout the last month, there have been non-stop headlines about how the Federal Reserve is crashing the market, and in a way, they kind of did. January of 2022 quickly became the worst month on record ever for…

Words Are the Most Powerful Drug | Origins: The Journey of Humankind

More Articles