I approach this the same way I approach concepts like karma and reincarnation. Are they literally true, physical forces, laws or similar acting on the world? N

I approach this the same way I approach concepts like karma and reincarnation. Are they literally true, physical forces, laws or similar acting on the world? No, of course not. Are they useful metaphors to try to model and discuss tendencies and emergent phenomena arising from patterns in human behavior? Yes, often, if used with the right disclaimers and caveats.