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To break down some of the beliefs that almost everyone else in history had, except us, and took to be completely obvious, which are taboo to question today.
The first is that there are inherent biological differences between men and women. Next, there is some inherent biological reality behind class, race, and ethnicity, that progress is not some natural law of the universe, but something that only occurs under certain incentive structures, which are rare throughout history. Family, community, and nation are the bedrock of social life, and war is a nasty part of the human condition that we have to accept. Equality doesn’t really exist, and some things are innately better than others. The highest levels of beauty, achievement, and greatness are pulled from the divine, while the lowest levels are pulled from demonic forces. These do not exist physically in the way we describe, but are underlying archetypal principles or forms that operate over physical matter.
Human nature is inherently corruptible and requires social traditions to keep us in check. There is a spirit world and God, and the human soul and consciousness is a force in its own right. Human life and happiness are predicated less upon material wealth and more upon social relations or values. The universe is a self-reflective emergent phenomenon that adapts to different situations.
To frame this: literally everyone else in history besides us believed all of that. Even the most educated people in the West at the start of World War I believed most of the things I mentioned above. Literally every other era in history besides that believed in them.
The Greatest Lie Ever Told
Whatifalthist
Eternity is at the very least 13.8 billion years – the current age of the universe. Planet Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, and humans have existed for at least 2 million years. In contrast, the city of Jerusalem was established just 5,000 years ago and the Jewish people are at most 3,000 years old.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
“If the news is fake, imagine history.” This pithy tweet reverses Orwell, because he who is acknowledged to be faking the present can no longer distort the past. That is, once enough people see that the establishment has been lying about today’s events, they naturally begin to think the establishment might have been lying about yesterday’s news as well.
The Network State
Balaji Srinivasan
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