Shared fantasy

• The Cognitive Revolution gave birth to Language and allowed everyone to believe in a shared illusion that is not encoded in DNA, enabling them to unite.

• Examples of these illusions include:

  • Code of Hammurabi - the illusion that humanity is divided into three castes.
  • Declaration of Independence - the illusion that all humans are equal.
    • Both of these illusions are believed because it is convenient for everyone, even though they are not natural laws.
  • Capitalism - the illusion that people inherently want to pursue profit.
    • Romanticism - the motivation to embark on travel and gain diverse experiences, as it leads to personal growth.
    • Consumerism - the belief that buying more things leads to a more comfortable life.
    • Currency - considered self-evident.

• These illusions are ingrained in us through education (or perhaps “brainwashing”) from childhood.

  • For example, individualism is influenced by the style of homes where individuals are given their own rooms.
    • In medieval Europe, aristocrats did not have personal space, so their evaluation by others was everything.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind §

• It could be said that the discipline of the individual in Autonomous Distributed Systems corresponds to this shared illusion, haha.
  • Refer to [[ Challenges and Future of Autonomous Distributed Systems Research (1993)]] for more information.