Yuval Noah Harari

The stories create the interests in the first place. The stories define who are the competing groups. Nations, religions, cultures, they are not biological entities. They are not like species, like gorillas and chimpanzees, no. Israelis and Palestinians, or Germans and French, or Chinese and Americans, they have no essential biological difference between them. The difference is cultural.

It comes from stories. There are people that believe in different stories. The stories create the identity. The stories create the interests. Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over Jerusalem not because of any material interest. There are no oil fields under Jerusalem. And even oil, you need it to realize some cultural fantasy. It doesn't really come from biology.

It comes from stories. There are people that believe in different stories. The stories create the identity. The stories create the interests. Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over Jerusalem not because of any material interest. There are no oil fields under Jerusalem. And even oil, you need it to realize some cultural fantasy. It doesn't really come from biology.

It comes from stories. There are people that believe in different stories. The stories create the identity. The stories create the interests. Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over Jerusalem not because of any material interest. There are no oil fields under Jerusalem. And even oil, you need it to realize some cultural fantasy. It doesn't really come from biology.

So the stories are independent forces. Now, why do people believe one story and not another? That's history. There is no materialistic law. People will always believe this. No. History is full of accidents. How did Christianity become the most successful religion in the world? We can't explain it.

So the stories are independent forces. Now, why do people believe one story and not another? That's history. There is no materialistic law. People will always believe this. No. History is full of accidents. How did Christianity become the most successful religion in the world? We can't explain it.

So the stories are independent forces. Now, why do people believe one story and not another? That's history. There is no materialistic law. People will always believe this. No. History is full of accidents. How did Christianity become the most successful religion in the world? We can't explain it.

Why this story about Jesus of Nazareth and not, you know, the Roman Empire in the third century CE was a bit like, I don't know, California today. Like so many sects and subsects and gurus and religions, like everybody has their own thing. And you have, you know, thousands of different stories competing. Why did Christianity come up on top? As a historian, I don't have a kind of clear answer.

Why this story about Jesus of Nazareth and not, you know, the Roman Empire in the third century CE was a bit like, I don't know, California today. Like so many sects and subsects and gurus and religions, like everybody has their own thing. And you have, you know, thousands of different stories competing. Why did Christianity come up on top? As a historian, I don't have a kind of clear answer.

Why this story about Jesus of Nazareth and not, you know, the Roman Empire in the third century CE was a bit like, I don't know, California today. Like so many sects and subsects and gurus and religions, like everybody has their own thing. And you have, you know, thousands of different stories competing. Why did Christianity come up on top? As a historian, I don't have a kind of clear answer.

You can read the sources and you see how it happens. Oh, this happened, and then this happened, and then Constantine adopted it, and then this, and then this. But why? I don't think anybody has an answer to that.

You can read the sources and you see how it happens. Oh, this happened, and then this happened, and then Constantine adopted it, and then this, and then this. But why? I don't think anybody has an answer to that.

You can read the sources and you see how it happens. Oh, this happened, and then this happened, and then Constantine adopted it, and then this, and then this. But why? I don't think anybody has an answer to that.

If you rewind the movie of history and press play, and you rewind and press play a hundred times, I think Christianity would take over the Roman Empire and the world maybe twice out of a hundred times. It was such an unlikely thing to happen. And it's the same with Islam. It's the same, I don't know, with the communist takeover of Russia.

If you rewind the movie of history and press play, and you rewind and press play a hundred times, I think Christianity would take over the Roman Empire and the world maybe twice out of a hundred times. It was such an unlikely thing to happen. And it's the same with Islam. It's the same, I don't know, with the communist takeover of Russia.

If you rewind the movie of history and press play, and you rewind and press play a hundred times, I think Christianity would take over the Roman Empire and the world maybe twice out of a hundred times. It was such an unlikely thing to happen. And it's the same with Islam. It's the same, I don't know, with the communist takeover of Russia.

In 1914, if you told people that in three years, Lenin and the Bolsheviks will gain power in the Tsarist empire, they would think you're utterly crazy. You know, Lenin had a few thousand supporters in 1914 in an empire of close to 200 million people. It sounded ludicrous. Now, we know the chain of events is

In 1914, if you told people that in three years, Lenin and the Bolsheviks will gain power in the Tsarist empire, they would think you're utterly crazy. You know, Lenin had a few thousand supporters in 1914 in an empire of close to 200 million people. It sounded ludicrous. Now, we know the chain of events is

In 1914, if you told people that in three years, Lenin and the Bolsheviks will gain power in the Tsarist empire, they would think you're utterly crazy. You know, Lenin had a few thousand supporters in 1914 in an empire of close to 200 million people. It sounded ludicrous. Now, we know the chain of events is

the First World War, the February Revolution, and so forth that led to the communist takeover, but it was such an unlikely event, and it happened.