Yes, I’ve heard about the book, many people have recommended I read it. Maybe I will! :-)
As for the fact that beliefs don’t affect reality… Well, that’s the problem. Nobody was there with a smartphone to document what was happening 5000 or 10000 years ago. We always try to explain the past from the point of view of the future. When we read Plato’s books about Atlantis we say it’s mythology and stories. When we look at the Great pyramids in Egypt, we just say it’s basic systems of wooden pulleys and pushing them on round logs. (When modern cranes are still incapable of lifting 100 ton blocks, and modern architecture is incapable to build something with the precision that the pyramids were built: a less than 1 centimeter deviation from a straight line inside the main shaft that runs from the bottom of the pyramid to the top, measured using a laser).
What I think, on the contrary, is that the current laws of physics, chemistry, biology.. gradually came into “focus” all at the same time for a reason: that of being able to construct a stable and infinite “story”.
The laws of physics are what they are, because they enable the laws of chemistry to emerge (moving from a Universe where atoms bump into each other to a Universe where they can interact in a harmonious way). The laws of chemistry are what they are because they enable the laws of biology to emerge (moving from a Universe where you have basic chemical reactions between proteins and amino acids to one where you have life). The laws of biology are what they are because they allow for sentient self-aware creatures like us to emerge. The laws that “rule” humanity are what they are because they allow for XXX to emerge (whatever that is, is outside of our comprehension). Notice that whether you read Jesus’s principles or human rights, they are, quite basically, the rules for a harmonious interaction between humans. Isn’t that a good summary for the whole “story” of human civilization? Trying to “uncover” the “rules” which enable the harmonious interactions between all of us? And you can apply this to physics (atoms), chemistry (molecules), biology (living cells). It’s the same logic. Notice that each “layer” has a tremendous “power” over the layer below without fundamentally violating it’s rules. Chemistry has “power” over atoms to bind them into molecules. Biology (living cells) has “power” over molecules to make them work in a way which allows self-replication and a stable exchange of energy to keep the integrity of the cell. Humans have “power” over biology and over all of the other “layers”. Just look at the world we have built to give you an idea of the “power” we have to shape reality! Now, the same applies to whatever is “above” us.
So what am I getting at. That indeed, 10.000 years ago, people might have had the ability to “move” matter around with their mind (belief). It’s the same thing as enabling you to have access to the BIOS of your computer to fundamentally change what is visible on your screen. Why do we not have the ability to do so today? Because from that ability, we would have probably auto-destroyed ourselves already countless number of times.
So if the laws that we observe in nature are what they are today, it is because it enables something greater than us to emerge.
