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.

5 BIG Investing Mistakes to Avoid | Stock Market Red Flags

Colonizing Mars | StarTalk

View All

Example reasoning about limits from tables

Told the function G is defined over the real numbers. This table gives a few values of G. So for a few values of X, they give us what G of X is equal to. And they say what is a reasonable estimate for the limit of G of X as X approaches 9 from the left or…

Partial derivatives of vector fields

So let’s start thinking about partial derivatives of vector fields. A vector field, as a function, I’ll do—I’ll just do a two-dimensional example here—is going to be something that has a two-dimensional input, and then the output has the same number of di…

How we use the video wall to sell corporate jets.

This is an Airbus 319 320. So, usually when somebody comes in, I’ll send them in here for a little bit to sort of get the feeling of being in the plane. I’ll say, “How much you want to spend?” So let’s say the guys want to spend 20 million bucks. Out of …

Warren Buffett: How Smart Investors Easily Identify Terrible Stocks

In the end the better mouse trap usually wins but but the people with the second or third best mous trap will will try to keep that from happening. I the ones you name I don’t know anything about I mean I know what they do but I don’t I don’t know they sp…

The U.S. Faces its "Most Dangerous Time" in Decades (Jamie Dimon Explains)

You said this may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades. Why do you think it’s the most dangerous time? Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, is widely regarded as one of the most esteemed bankers in history. While I typically look …

Insurance terminology | Insurance | Financial Literacy | Khan Academy

Now let’s talk about some of the words you’re likely to hear if you’re dealing with insurance. So the first one is a premium, or an insurance premium, and that’s really just what you’re paying in order to get the insurance. So if you pay, let’s say, 200 …

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

More Articles