Myths are not necessarily false. They are just things people believe. To a physicist there is nothing unmythical about a contract. It is based on the belief th

Myths are not necessarily false. They are just things people believe. To a physicist there is nothing unmythical about a contract. It is based on the belief that the words on the paper will entice the other party - like some sort of golem that can be commanded with words - to act accordingly. It is one of the wonderful unbelievable symmetries of human behaviour that often the other party will belief likewise, and this common belief makes the contract actualized. Note - there may be several reasons why it is rational for the other party not to brake with the contract, but constructing the complete cost benefit scenario for the other party in ones head is quite labour intensive - this is not how fundamentally people in general approach things - but rather people follow accepted norms and believe they will work as expected. It is totally wonderfull and unexpected that this common web of belief and action makes the human civilization work. I think Harari's description of human interaction is philosophically deep and cuts to several points if one wants to create a "system theoretical" model within ones mind how and why humans can function as a coherent civilization.