Anish Ghimire

This world runs in a collective belief of all the human beings that reside in it. Our thoughts, our beliefs, our action upon mere imagination are what feed the engine room of this modern planet. The natural components of the planet barely support the construction of this modern society. Trees and oxygen do not help us in paying taxes, just like waterfalls and lakes aren’t responsible for capitalism.
So, years forward the world has shifted more towards the collective imagination of human beings. Rather than making use of what we have been given beforehand, we produced more ideas, build myths, and created a disparity between us and our natural form of existence.

Collective Beliefs
The power of our collective beliefs runs this world. Do you think tax is a natural component that evolved with us? What about religions and myths that put us in a loop? The hierarchy in society, class system, wealth distribution according to the capacity of labour, and education. Before human existence took flight, there was no such thing as education.
Maybe there was learning, practising, and inheriting wisdom from the elders, but there was no going to school for 8 hours and taking a loan for college. We created education, human rights, laws, police, and many more. So many things to which we are habitual these days are created by us. If we sit down and think of it, we will be surprised to some extent.
Now, what I am about to say may sound like an idea straight out of a fairytale, but just hear me out. Since this world progresses upon the accuracy of our ideas and imagination, I might propose an impression as well. What if we abandon the collective myths and ideas we believe in? If we all come together one day and decide that there are no human rights or if we change the name of one country then it will be as we perceive it. If we stop believing in education and collectively forget that all the educational institutions exist, then it will be that way. There is so much power in what we choose to believe. If we decide that Earth is the only planet in the entire solar system, then all of us will believe in it. We often neglect the power we have and how that power can absolutely change the way we see this modern world. I’m not saying that we abandon the components of this modern society, all I’m trying to put forward is the power we behold in us and how we are unaware of it.
Human beings possess different traits. Not all human beings are similar. So what should be done to keep all the human together so that one mutual goal can be achieved? It's simple, you build a bunch of myths and ideas saying they are larger than life.
Yuval Noah Harari talked about this phenomenon in his book 'Sapiens', which that how humans will come together if they believe in same the myths and ideas. The main reason for the founding of myths is to bring a bunch of different human beings and make them believe in a sole idea.
There are so many Hindus in our country, not all Hindus are the same. Some Hindus are doctors, some are actors, and some are businessmen. But at festivals, they all visit the same temples and worship the same gods regardless of their disparity. They hold the same beliefs when it comes to Hinduism. Again, all of this is our creation. Such a tendency wasn't natural for us.
For example, an employee working at the UN associates himself with his office and his colleagues. He and his colleagues will believe in the same disciplines, policies, and ideas in which their organization works. But when they go home, they are different people. While at work, they work under the same beliefs and for the same cause.

Modern World
Organizations establish beliefs as well, making a bunch of different people work for a mutual cause. This is basically how this modern world works. Simply said, it works with the working of our brain. Our thoughts, ideas, emotions, and our myths push this world forward every single day. And if we collectively choose to forget them, then it will be that way.
Something as simple as choosing not to believe in the modern components of the world will completely change our lives and maybe this planet as well. Organizations, religions, policies, rules and regulations, political ideas, philosophies, and so many other components exist only because we choose to believe in them. Such is the power of our brain and its notion of believing in human-made ideas. My only wish at this point is that if we had to run this world on mere imagination, why didn’t we imagine better things for ourselves and our home? Why did we complicate this world more so than it already was?
Why didn’t we imagine happy people and a healthy environment? Why didn’t we imagine preserving our peace of mind and nature’s blessings? Why didn’t we collectively choose to believe in something that makes our world a better place to live in? Did we misuse our most powerful weapon? Or, maybe we used it at the wrong place and the wrong time?

(Ghimire is a college student)