Bananas in heaven | Yuval Noah Harari | TEDxJaffa

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. TEDxJaffa partnered with The British Council [www.britishcouncil.org.il/en], which connects people with learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK. BIRAX [www.britishcouncil.org.il/en/p...] (the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership) is a £10 million initiative of the British Council and British Embassy in Israel that funds cutting-edge research using stem cell therapies to tackle some of the world’s most dreadful diseases.
Prof. Yuval Noah Harari (www.ynharari.com/) lectures at the Department of History of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in World History. His most recent book is the international bestseller "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" (www.ynharari.com/sapiens-the-b.... The book surveys the entire length of human history, from the evolution of Homo sapiens in the Stone Age up to the political and technological revolutions of the twenty-first century.

Harari's central thesis is that Homo sapiens rules the world because it is the only animal that believes in things that exist purely in its own imagination, such as gods, states, money and human rights. Starting from this provocative idea, his book goes on to retell the history of our species from a completely fresh perspective. It explains that capitalism is the most successful religion ever invented; that empire is the most fruitful political system ever created; that the treatment of animals in modern agriculture is probably the worst crime in history; that humans are in the process of upgrading themselves into gods; and that even though we are far more powerful than our ancestors, we aren’t much happier.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[@Dad7777]

Willingness to ignore human dominion and rights quickly opens the door to oppression.

[@JoshuaKahn]

Is that what he's doing here? I disagree. He's explaining the dynamics of what allows humans to cooperate in very large numbers, as distinct from all other species. Where in his talk does his suggest ignoring human dominion?

[@Anita..]

@@JoshuaKahni disagree

[@dls0001]

Agree fully. Those who disagree may already have lost and not yet realized it.

[@thesullivans2008]

Agree. He talks about human domination of the planet as if it's our commonly and tacitly understood goal. As if somehow we're winning against the other species in an unspoken but understood competition. The guy must be on the autism-spectrum or have some kind of psychosis. He has a warped understanding of things.

[@davidbodeker6752]

He is not willing to ignore rights nor encouraging anyone to. He is examining them.

[@brazilshotta]

this talk definitely strengthen my believe in GOD. THANK YOU! Only humans can do because WE WERE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD!!

[@lorirode-off763]

Yes, not unintelligent, brute, beasts.

[@stuartbeaton-gm9xn]

A totally made up entity. Why don't you believe in Thor or say Zeus? The had a run. So your God is somehow better...or more real?

[@YouLoveMrFriendly]

​@@stuartbeaton-gm9xntell that to a Muslim

[@raymilland3413]

Yes God made the Universe and everything in it and Yuval Nosferatu Harari is going to come face to face with God one day and he will be judged and we all know where he is going to spend eternity.

[@YouLoveMrFriendly]

@@stuartbeaton-gm9xn no one cares that you're an atheist. Scream at us all you like

[@Adityarm.08]

One of the best teachers in the world without a doubt. There is certainly too much to learn from the course and it's all for free. These people restore my faith in humankind.

[@kripamohamed]

Aditya Mishra which course?

[@Adityarm.08]

@@kripamohamed brief history of humankind - based on the book sapiens. it was available on Coursera for free.

[@hossain2010]

@@Adityarm.08 I didnt find anything by "brief history of humankind" in Cousera! can u explain a bit?

[@Adityarm.08]

@@hossain2010 the full lecture series is on KZbin now on Y.N.Harai's channel.

[@agabaabraham3638]

This shd be an eye opening moment where humans do careers and tell themselves stories that will make us transcendent

[@soundfreakdb6790]

reading "Sapiens" what a perspective changing experience!!!

[@randomuser529]

Your perspective was probably better before, then.

[@KaizerDraco]

fucking genius, pure genius, generous contributions of knowledge to humanity.

[@sarahmcbeth9156]

+KaizerDraco easiest way of pretending that you understand something is to either show love or hate. If you understood what he said you would know that there is nothing genius about it. It's just simply a stupid argument full of flaws

[@MrJackdiver]

+Sarah McBeth hi could you elaborate? i like stories ;-)

[@AR-ls5go]

+Sarah McBeth Full of flaws ? Give some examples or your commentary is completely useless.

[@sarahmcbeth9156]

+Arthur Roffin I am glad some people took interest on my comment. I will try my best: 1. Cooperation between humans relies much more on knowing one another compare to cooperation of chimps, because humans have much more means for cheating each other. 2. "If you put 1000 humans and 1000 chimps in an island, then humans will definitely win". This is contrary to the natural history. This species of chimps have survived on earth for millions of years, but homo sapiens are much younger. Even if we don't take possible nuclear wars into consideration, if humans don't eradicate chimps, chimps have shown much better skills in getting along and survive. Other examples happen right before our eyes: some neighborhoods in downtown Detroit and cities in nowadays Syria became vacant for different reasons, but insects and rats sill live there, proving that they have better survival skills. 3. Comparing humans and chimps in Wall Street is way too stupid for me to even waste time talking about. Ask me if you need clarification. 4. "You can never convince a chimps to do anything for you." Scientists actually do that everyday all over the world with different animals. Not by promising heaven of course, but with other rewards. 5. Human rights is not a fictional story like religion. Religion is fictional because it has to do with a promise that nobody has ever seen or experienced. Human rights is real because it has to do with freedom, equality, prosperity and other rights that people can feel and compare. Did I say enough?

[@AR-ls5go]

+Sarah McBeth First, sorry for my english, i m french and i do not talk perfectly well... Well then, i wanted to answer you each of your point but i realise something with your arguments. I think you dont get what Harari wants to say. He just wants to show HOW humans are dominant. Why they are the species today which dominate the others. He doesnt say that humans are more important than chimps. Did you read his book ? He never said that. Anyway i will try to answer each your point. 1. I dont see where Harari is wrong with that. Its what he want to say. 2. He is talking about the Homo Sapiens history, not natural. And again, if you read his book, you will see that he agrees with you. He said that since 2,5 millions years ago, humans can now "control" chimps because they are more organised. He is not even talking about surviving. His MAIN point all the time is: Why Homo Sapiens is controling the Earth ? Its as simple as that. I think you didnt read his book because he talks about survival skills as well. And he agrees saying that rats and other kind of animals will have great chances to survive compare to humans if a asteroid explodes the Earth. He is just talking about "domination" not surviving. And only on the Homo Sapiens period (so 2,5 millions years), not the entire Earth history. 3. Well same thing than the second point. He is talking about organisation, how Humans can cooperate in great numbers. He is not even talking about surviving again... 4. Yeah other "material" rewards whereas humans can imagine bigger things (religions, states, nations) to be millions indivualds beings to live toghether. That's what he wants to say. Again, his main speech is about how humans control the Earth. He just tries to explain in this other example that chimps cant have as imagination as humans. Well on that point, we are not sure, i agree... we cant be sure. But the fact is that today, humans can live in a group of 66 millions people in France for example whereas chimps cant because they cant believe all toghether in a same fictionnal thing (as the country named "France" or any religion or anything). 5. Who on Earth can say that human rights are natural ? Who ? Nobody. Its maybe the point that i am more convinced. For sure i m believing on the human rights, i think every human being has the right to live and i agree with the things you quote (freedom, equality, prosperity). But its clearly a human invention, nothing else. Its not NATURAL. That's what he wants to say, nothing more. Harari himself believes in these rights. But he just wants to say that yes, as religion, its fictionnal because its just another belief. Its not natural. About religion, you dont seem to understand what is religion actually. I m a atheist. But i know that religion is not only about gods and life after death. Religious people are experiencing thing everyday. Its things that you dont understand, that's simple. Its just prove that you didnt read his book, he will explain far more better than me. I really advice you to read this book. I dont agree with all the things he said but it makes us think a lot about several things of our society and about history in general.

[@risarose7378]

Dr. Harari makes the type of points during his lectures that simultaneously give an "aha" moment, changing the way one looks at the big questions in life, and, at the same time, make so much sense that it seems at though one should have already realized these points. He has an incredible ability to make difficult concepts easily understood; he is a top notch intellectual and teacher.

[@linferrand7633]

I had the same reaction when I took his coursera course: this is so obviously right; why didn't I realize it before now?

[@MomirovVojislav]

His Coursera lectures are the best I've ever taken. I strongly recommend it to everyone! :-) Believer or not, go for it and you won't regret. Regards!

[@pdommu]

I second that.

[@Kamric68]

Vojislav Momirov Thanks for mentioning it, I'll go check it out.

[@MaherKhaldi]

I thinkk it was a good course on Coursera but he had too much talk and text and little graphs ,illustrations or animations in his lectures. It was very intreseting !!

[@tomdickharry9425]

NotAkira ..ok so can u put forward ur tier 1 book

[@robsnoeckx7326]

Vojislav Momirov yuva

[@VictorAntonioLive]

Fascinating perspective! I'm downloading "Sapiens" now. Thank you!

[@DesiranKehendak]

Clear, simple, yet conveyed great ideas. No excessive fancy words he used frequently. I think Noah is one of the best minds in our time.

[@RobertKarlSkoglund]

This TED talk is in the top 1% of the top 1% of TED talks. The humble Farmer

[@filipefelicio2364]

hahahah, for me was one of the worst

[@fitri1026]

Everyone should read his book, "Sapiens." It is such an important and thought provoking book on how we as a society came to be. I was blown away by the amount of times Harari's insights made me challenge my own beliefs and outlook on humankind. An absolutely brilliant scholar and author.

[@twsartadventures3660]

First prove evolution, then pretend any of this pseudoscience is true. Go ahead, I'll wait.

[@Deyonkersny]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@psdturjo]

Changed my thinking.... Best book...

[@twsartadventures3660]

@@psdturjo There is no evidence for evolution.

[@someguy2135]

@@twsartadventures3660 Skepticism is a good thing. You should apply it to your belief in a god.

[@andyroid7339]

Wish he'd have mentioned bartering - the use of items from our objective reality (e.g. antlers, gem stones, furs and onward) and the conversion of these into the basis of a currency system. His referral to finance as a "story" is simplistic. It is surely one of a set of "laws" which allow a human society to develop, another being a judicial system, another being a social care system. Though these "laws" developed out of human imagination they also grew from a necessity.

[@CRAIGC55]

Exactly!

[@ianstewart8243]

Laws of exchange

[@tonyc7689]

Most of these " ideas " were created by corporations, at one time for what appeared to be the betterment of humanity

[@khaldoonmk6177]

Yuval you're a real great teacher. Greetings from Iraq.

[@pdommu]

I wish I had a teacher like this when I was younger.

[@feyawang9894]

It's not too late now to start reading his books! :)

[@twsartadventures3660]

You did, they are all lying about evolution. There is no scientific basis for it.

[@IndustMachWerksofTX]

I can’t believe these comments. They all have to be bots. No way this many people would agree with this and that god is a fake story. I myself do not believe in god, but still think this guy is insane

[@christinezolman5525]

Finally. A comment that I can agree with. Couple this with his views on depopulation and you really leveled up to ‘coo coo ca choo.’

[@inlumina_punctro]

God is fake, Soul is real. There is Spirit, in fact the Spirit- Source is the only thing that exist, we are expresions of It. Harari ignores both God and Soul, he is brainwashed by so called ”science” or ”$cience” a better name for these late years. 😀

[@Qscrisp]

He is, indeed, insane. He defines 'importance' as having 'an impact on the world'. I don't know how he has the chutzpah to describe himself as a philosopher on his website.

[@PanhandleFrank]

I think he's an over-educated m0r0n, and that his stupidity is most evident when he says, if you cut a person open, you find no rights inside. That said, why do you deceive yourself by pretending you don't believe in God?

[@sunchild_sc9888]

his writing and research are elevated. 'Sapiens' has totally blown my mind and significantly swelled my horizons. well done Yuval. great work.

[@ianstewart8243]

Where does he get his data from? What texts and "authorities" does he research with??

[@brickehansen1625]

None. He makes it up. It's far more imaginary than his belief of human rights. He's really a contradiction to himself. One these wef weasels pushing their agenda. Trying to desensitise people into believing they have no rights.

[@gameworlder9331]

WEF Demons

[@niterunner9979]

Greetings from Brazil. This Lecture is amazing

[@nguyenhoangvu4216]

An Actually original idea, couraging us to think about something very basic. It is really interesting and inspring

[@balasooriyaas]

The world today needs thinkers like Yuval Noah Harari. Intelectually very provocative!

[@nicolasmango290]

This is possibly my favorite TEDx talk ever. Absolutely brilliant.

[@TZB2011]

YNH---is just an awesome Sapien ...igniting the minds...! Thanks!

[@marykatesmith4705]

Best ted talk ever.

[@jituhero007]

i love his course..it was amazing :D i also bought his book and now am reading it :)

[@stevenpolkinghorn4747]

You should buy this book called “My Struggle.” It’s called something else in its original German but it’s basically the same thing this guy was talking about. Look it up.

[@randomuser529]

​@@stevenpolkinghorn4747 He's also borrowing heavily from works like Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible. "Right and wrong are whatever we choose in our minds, bruhhhh!"

[@dereojofilms]

Yuval Rules!

[@qudussaggu7064]

very inspiring!

[@ramaken]

He speaks with a lot of passion.i wish he was my teacher

[@ikmig]

You can make him your teacher! he gave/is giving an open online course on coursera, www.coursera.org/course/humankind

[@ramaken]

i listened to the class already last year on course era

[@paolomoles1401]

In a world flooded with irrelevant information, lucidity is power, thanks to Harari the world makes more sense to many of us and if this explanation will add even a small group of people to the debate about the future of our species, then he will have achieved his purpose. Harari intelligent and immense!

[@nilabja_das]

Wonderful!

[@tme98]

I’m astonished that this doesn’t have more views!

[@walkietalkie3229]

Fantastic. This level of awareness is fascinating and will help many to grow another level of paradigm towards intellectual evolution. Glad.

[@dalecoupland9178]

If aha moments upset you, don't even think about taking Professor Harari's course on Coursera or reading his book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. There are numerous insights per lesson and you will find yourself understanding more clearly and yet wanting to learn more. A total delight. Should be required worldwide!

[@kripamohamed]

Dale Coupland name of the course

[@grahamluna6935]

Where do you think he's leading us? Nature loving people or a life of AI. He is a WEF boy. Beware!!

[@randa982]

What's blown my mind

[@AbdulHafeez-cq6oo]

the new knowledge never heard such good talk before like him very much

[@aishwaryababu9352]

מדהים! :) What a great mind!

[@ljrockstar69]

I love his accent 😍

[@128numara]

Ülkemizde bu adamın bu kadar çok okunmasının nedenini şimdi daha iyi anlıyorum.

[@blueskiescleanwaterfreshair]

I am reminded that much like past scholars, mathematicians, religious leaders, kings, queens & perfect strangers, this guy is just the latest among us who wants to persuade others with their own narrative.

[@randomuser529]

Moral relativism isn't even a new narrative. It has been used to justify totalitarian regimes for a long time.

[@davidbodeker6752]

Except that he uses transparent reason and truth.

[@InspireByRajitha]

Inspires to think differently

[@rachelmissrich6417]

Thank you so much Yuval

[@vascoamaralgrilo]

Thanks!

[@antoniocope5877]

Excellent and very organic

[@dsrd4135]

Brilliant!

[@TheAryedemented]

He is the best! Read his book

[@madridista4e]

nice course thank you from Iraq ♥

[@Icelander00]

Amazing!

[@hk-3c]

Harari's TED talk.

[@Donnnny2010]

A brilliant and couragous activism

[@user-bg7ep9pe9v]

I love Harari

[@anuprp1755]

Brilliant

[@bedsdavec]

Isaac Asimov floated the idea that the crucial mutation in the evolution of humans was one that slowed the maturation rate. We get ~2 billion heartbeats on average, double many species. Slow maturation made us dependent on maternal care for longer and our mothers needing more support. We also needed clothes. For our species it was cooperate or die. Our history of a species could follow from that ...

[@julianguzman313]

im watching from Buenos Aires

[@PavelDGromnic]

We should listen to him, and learn.

[@squamish4244]

This was just not even four years ago, when nobody knew who Yuval Harari was. Now he's one of the most prominent public intellectuals in the world. It took Steven Pinker, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins et. al. decades to get this famous from where they started. It shows how relevant Harari's material is at this point in history. And how two hours of meditation a day can stop you from going insane when you go from a nobody to getting 100 invitations to talk *a day.* So far...

[@significantfrank]

i am reading his book 'Brief history of humankind', human's unique cooperation comes from our imagination and common belief on fictional reality, it's 100% true, belief is the very first step we can do anything.

[@josephlaukienlok8472]

Brilliant talk :D

[@peacicious8333]

I wish us all to think like this genius

[@inka9636]

thank you thank you thank you

[@diabloencorbata1989]

Hahahaha! Fear and vanity are powerful. For a God loving human, life is simple and filled with purpose. For the one walking with absence thereof, it spirals down into rationalizing their pointless void.

[@queleimportapene6582]

How is that nobody stands up after hearing the truth of human existence! Maybe we are not ready to such fictions yet.

[@tme98]

The fact that people don’t wish to hear it, sort of shows the power of fiction. We’re not willing to embrace this because it would honestly shake the foundation they stand on!

[@markoszouganelis5755]

Finally some good words for humanity! Thank you!

[@ajaytaur]

Yuval is the best at explaining how changes take place ♥️♥️ Brilliant mind of this time 👍

[@aaarcg]

Aulas de história como você nunca obteve em salas de aula. Aviso: você se tornará mais sábio após ouví-las!

[@sergiyavorski9977]

🤡

[@CRAIGC55]

Well if freedom is fictional and of our imagination then so is slavery too for that matter, Mr. Yuval. Also, money and bartering isn't just of our imagination, its necessary for our survival. Mr. Yuval Noah Harari's definition of imagination is extremely loose and I'm not sure i totally agree with it.

[@randomuser529]

You can't get to 1984's "War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength" without first defining things as fictional, changeable concepts inside the human mind instead of rigid, objective things existing in objective reality. In fact, you will want to define "objective reality" itself as a myth. Which I'm sure he does somewhere at some point.

[@herbertlopez5542]

In my opinion, it is a very interesting theory when he emphasizes the importance of collaboration to evolve, the need of trust to build something great. Nonetheless, this gentleman has also oversimplified the human brain which is more complex and sophisticated than the apes´. Also the human soul, and its quest of pursuing meaning in life, to create a better world. Keep in mind that a lot of discoveries and inventions have done and developed by people self-dedicated and self-driven, such as Alexander Fleming, Elijah McCoy, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla just to mention a few.... Besides, we cannot ignore or diminish all the inspiration that the Poet Community and spiritual leaders have provided in all these years...

[@eltutel6808]

You are an Excellent tutor... I believe in God because I tested this Thruth.. I know it for sure I mean It is personal quest a journey that took me years and a lot of readings not because we humans we have this capacity to have common beliefs or to believe in thigs that does not exist. respect.

[@The_Body_5785]

I genuinely feel bad for this fella. Blind leading the blind...

[@filipefelicio2364]

me too, I feel sorry for him

[@Glamdemon]

Don't too bad about him hes one of the choosen people

[@Alwaysdoubt100]

Fantastic talk. We should have more of these in our schools. Not that mumble jumbo from teachers we have.

[@porcupine783]

Sapiens is fascinating and also very depressing

[@jesusrajaimesbe]

Genial

[@youbian]

I mean, if we can arrive at a place where we’re unafraid to be brutally honest with ourselves.....and the science proves it, we can accept the fact that we aren’t all equal.

[@edmi1379]

nice title

[@1206anton]

This man is a saint. He understands the world as it is.

[@lorezampadeferro8641]

Lmfao bootlicker

[@wanderingpastor7958]

You and I are created in the image of God-we have inherent worth.

[@robrechtderoeck1203]

Mahler 5th Symphony at the start!! So cool ❤

[@christine_ren]

When he talks about the collective imagination of humans constructing reality... Kastoriades is impossible to not think about. Not a very well-known philosopher but I would totally recommend checking his work if this subject "clicks" with you.

[@obadyahuyasharal4075]

You crammed 30k people in the stadium during Katrina and it was mad chaos!!!

[@kimberlywillis8865]

If we were neighbors... I think you would enjoy our conversations about the Word of God. 🥰

[@alodipadebnath2704]

Did he just mentioned New Delhi😱

[@sarangdaga8363]

Yes

[@sudhirpatel7620]

Bravo. What to do? Everyone around me is 99% fictional. They live to work...and their fun time is always to talk about work and how to make more money in fear of reality.

[@maysoe617]

I agree with Yuval that human rights don’t exist naturally. What if they are just fictions that we humans created for the betterment of our human race to fit with the ideal conditions that we want to live in? Just imagine we were born some thousands of years ago.. we wouldn’t even have thought about certain rights at that time. The rights evolved as we’re trying to come up with ways to enhance our well-being. Those rights will be constantly developing and will further be evolving. It’s just as simple as we all want the nicest things that can make our lives perfect (which we can attain from positive rights) and don’t want harm from others (which will be ensured by having negative rights). Since human rights have been ideally constructed for that purpose and as long as it’s good for us, I think we should embrace this idea of human rights so that oppression won’t be done by powerful actors. Human rights come with accountability and all human beings (I would say not just the state) have accountability for the protection and fulfillment of rights that were created or identified by human beings.. the greater the human rights violations happening (or in other words, the more we are far from our ideal situations), the more conflict or violence will happen.. that’s just human nature.. since respecting, protecting, or fulfilling human rights can lead to positive peace, let’s just focus on the practical nature of this fictional concept and let’s do the best for the sake of humanity… :)

[@RoboHoloclone12]

Ouch. 😖

[@khunemz]

Summary : Human wins the world by imagination and corporation.

[@MisterBlueSky1000]

If imagination "not real" - then how come it is so crucial and effective for our successful survival in reality?

[@Alwaysdoubt100]

MisterBlueSky1000 depends on what u mean from "successful survival in reality". Dogs, and any other animal, also have a story of successful survival in reality, they exist. They eat, They live. They reproduce. The only thing we need in reality, fiction comes just to organize and explore people. Religion, for exemple, is fiction and only exist because people believe in this parallel reality, they believe because they are convinced for other people to believe in it. If there was no religion we would still exist, we would still eat and reproduce.

[@drnickpol]

Valid point about getting together as humans and as chimps. Like NewYear in Köln, for example.

[@lucianothomas3875]

Brillant

[@dumoluhledhlamini5740]

wow

[@pikiwiki]

seems like a simple rehashing of Heidegger. Being and time.

[@inlumina_punctro]

And this is🙂 why humans control humans, you forgot to mention.

[@nurulkarim6525]

From Bangladesh

[@prettyprudent5779]

🌿 Yuval Noah Harari, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Aron Ra and Dr. Jason Fung; best time spent on KZbin.

[@antreassiapani6365]

Try also Jordan B. Peterson

[@prettyprudent5779]

Antreas Siapani : Thanks. 🙂

[@macforme]

Let me add: Jonathan Haidt

[@steffijosek]

@@prettyprudent5779 Also Sam Harris.

[@Anthony-zf1uq]

What you refuse to accept is the very thing that makes us so different from the animals is the fact that we are created in the image of the Almighty God he gave us the mental ability to be self aware to think and reason and the spiritual ability to see beyond us the animals were not give the ability to grasp a Creator or to understand his place in the universe rather it be the material or spiritual universe rather you want to accept his existence is always up to you but you can't deny the obvious differences between us and animals . Have a great day.

[@PanhandleFrank]

FInd Brian Godawa's short film (7+ mins) "Cruel Logic" on KZbin. A psychopathic killer challenges the assertions ("BioLoGiCaL dEtErMiNiSm!!!") of just such a one as Yuval Harari. Like and share.

[@ShallExplore]

If someone asked Yuval "what is the most mind-blowing thing you know?" The listener would...... (fill in the blanks)

[@imransyed737]

Think yourself

[@puntlandcsc7684]

In fact, animals also belief in stories: dogs conduct searches and perform duties in return for a future reward.

[@keeponspinning]

I think you missed the point. You can touch, see, eat, smell a dog biscuit. But not heaven.

[@michelifig6356]

@@keeponspinning who says that's not doggie heaven?😅

[@lrkcho]

On the objective / fictional model where does electricity come in? Previously unknown force?

[@randomuser529]

Well, if you don't believe it exists in your own mind, electricity is just a myth, don't you see.

[@sornenukoh8121]

The second layer is the astral plane

[@jcarrig]

I'm curious though about his philosophy towards animals and agriculture. If "rights" are an imagined reality, engineered by our imaginations as tools for survival and cooperation and power, which seems plausible, how can we take as a certainty our judgment as to what is right and wrong? If we chose only things we can be certain of are basic objective realities like the physical existance of things, or consciousness itself, how does he reconcile his philosophy towards 'happiness' (like humans being happier prior to the great 'mistake' of agriculture, which seems unknowable, while at the same time the phenomena of humans never being satisfied and always looking for the next step up pleasure, which are both positions he takes) and also his philosophy towards the concept of 'cruelty', which by his definition seems to be another imagined myth.

[@randomuser529]

Seems like you are very close to noticing how moral relativists pick and choose whether they believe in rights and objective morality according to whether it furthers their own agenda or not. Better stop thinking right there or you might get in trouble!

[@junebaldwin5352]

We haven't got the time to talk all day we are too busy growing bananas .

[@traceyrychewhite1874]

God gave us dominion over the animals.