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.

Marques Brownlee on Building an Audience and Other Advice for Creators

Why Do We Get Bored?

View All

Jessica Livingston at Startup School 2012

Hi everyone! This is so big league this year! I can’t believe it. We have like this team of people in the back helping. There’s real chairs, and look how many seats there are! This is so exciting. Um, I’m Jessica Livingston. I’m one of the founders of Y …

The Secret Life of Plants | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic

I’m looking at what you might call a classic National Geographic image. It’s a scene of one of the rainiest places on earth in its monsoon season. It’s somewhere deep in a rainforest. There’s a lush tapestry of thin brown tree trunks and rich green leaves…

Basic derivative rules (Part 1) | Derivative rules | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy

So these are both ways that you will see limit-based definitions of derivatives. Usually, this is if you’re thinking about the derivative at a point. Here, if you’re thinking about the derivative in general, but these are both equivalent. They’re both bas…

Psychology of a Serial Killer (the Jeffrey Dahmer Story)

Foreign those words were spoken by Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer, a sex offender, necrophiliac, and cannibal who brutally murdered 17 Milwaukee young men throughout the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. Dahmer’s story makes for a chilling example of a psychopath …

5 Habits That Made Me $30,000/month By 22

I went from making seven dollars per hour at the restaurant to earning multiple six figures in only two and a half years from the YouTube businesses I’ve built. Growing up, unfortunately, I didn’t receive much financial education, and as everyone knows, s…

How I Built 7 Income Streams at 23 That Retired My Parents

Everyone’s talking about building multiple income streams, jumping side hustle to side Hustle, but here’s what nobody’s telling you: In today’s AI driven economy, being average at multiple things is actually the riskiest position you can be in. Instead of…

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

More Articles