Yuval Noah Harari said this quote

“ That spectacular leap from the middle to the top had enormous consequences.Other animals at the top of the pyramid, such as lions and sharks, evolved intothat position very gradually, over millions of years. This enabled the ecosystem todevelop checks and balances that prevent lions and sharks from wreaking toomuch havoc. As lions became deadlier, so gazelles evolved to run faster, hyenas tocooperate better, and rhinoceroses to be more bad-tempered. In contrast,humankind ascended to the top so quickly that the ecosystem was not given timeto adjust. Moreover, humans themselves failed to adjust. Most top predators of theplanet are majestic creatures. Millions of years of dominion have ɹlled them withself-conɹdence. Sapiens by contrast is more like a banana republic dictator.Having so recently been one of the underdogs of the savannah, we are full of fearsand anxieties over our position, which makes us doubly cruel and dangerous.Many historical calamities, from deadly wars to ecological catastrophes, haveresulted from this over-hasty jump. ”

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After all, when ‘the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become’ He resolved to ‘wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground – for I regret that I have made them’ (Genesis 6:7). The Bible thinks it is perfectly all right to destroy all animals as punishment for the crimes of Homo sapiens, as if the existence of giraffes, pelicans and ladybirds has lost all purpose if humans misbehave. The Bible could not imagine a scenario in which God repents having created Homo sapiens, wipes this sinful ape off the face of the earth, and then spends eternity enjoying the antics of ostriches, kangaroos and panda bears.

~ Yuval Noah Harari

The right to the pursuit of happiness, originally envisaged as a restraint on state power, has imperceptibly morphed into the right to happiness – as if human beings have a natural right to be happy, and anything which makes us dissatisfied is a violation of our basic human rights, so the state should do something about it.

~ Yuval Noah Harari

The capitalist and consumerist ethics are two sides of the same coin, a merger of two commandments. The supreme commandment of the rich is ‘Invest!’ The supreme commandment of the rest of us is ‘Buy!’ The capitalist–consumerist ethic is revolutionary in another respect. Most previous ethical systems presented people with a pretty tough deal. They were promised paradise, but only if they cultivated compassion and tolerance, overcame craving and anger, and restrained their selfish interests. This was too tough for most. The history of ethics is a sad tale of wonderful ideals that nobody can live up to. Most Christians did not imitate Christ, most Buddhists failed to follow Buddha, and most Confucians would have caused Confucius a temper tantrum. In contrast, most people today successfully live up to the capitalist–consumerist ideal. The new ethic promises paradise on condition that the rich remain greedy and spend their time making more money and that the masses give free reign to their cravings and passions and buy more and more. This is the first religion in history whose followers actually do what they are asked to do. How though do we know that we'll really get paradise in return? We've seen it on television.

~ Yuval Noah Harari

We believe in a particular order not because it is objectively true, but because believing in it enables us to cooperate effectively and forge a better society. Imagined orders are not evil conspiracies or useless mirages. Rather, they are the only way large numbers of humans can cooperate effectivelyy.

~ Yuval Noah Harari