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.

Warren Buffett's Advice for Young People Who Want to Be Rich

Uncovering the Secrets at Mirador | The Story of God

View All

YC Ultimate Job Guide: Startup Stages

[Music] Yeah, we’re here to talk about startup stages. Try to be as informative as possible. Obviously, you know, given my position here, I would love for you to consider working at a YC startup. It sounds like some of you are already at startups, but I’m…

Golden age of Islam | World History | Khan Academy

[Instructor] In other videos we talk about the rapid spread of Islam, and one of the interesting things about these early Islamic empires is they preserved much of what they inherited from the Byzantine and the Persian empires. The infrastructure, includi…

WHAT IS THIS LINE? (on my Super Blue Blood Moon Photo) - Smarter Every Day 188

Hey, it’s me Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. Super. Blue. Blood. Moon. I heard those words and I was like, “Mmhmm, that’s my life now.” So, here’s the deal. “Supermoon” refers to the fact that the Moon goes around the Earth in an ellipse. When …

Differentiating polynomials example | Derivative rules | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy

So I have the function f of X here, and we’re defining it using a polynomial expression. What I would like to do here is take the derivative of our function, which is essentially going to make us take a derivative of this polynomial expression, and we’re …

What if the Earth Was Flat?

The Earth isn’t flat. This is something we’ve known now for thousands of years. Aristotle proved it empirically by traveling to Egypt and witnessing new constellations of stars from the other side of the globe. After Eratosthenes used no more than a stick…

5 Tricks That Save A LOT of Money FAST

What’s up, guys? It’s Graham here, so let’s get right into it because we’ve got an issue here. According to research, nearly 60% of adults do not have enough money saved to cover a $1,000 emergency, and nearly a third of those people would have to resort …

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

More Articles