ABSTRACT
Like every other creature on Earth, however intelligent or not, all we can do when we want to know for sure if others are telling us the truth is watch and listen to them. We can then try to make an educated guess about what they are thinking and intending to do. But what about ourselves? Should we even trust what our own brains are telling us? We want to convince you that nobody can figure out how and why we behave the way we do as individuals and societies without understanding how the human brain works. Nobody can understand how their brain works without also understanding how humans evolved biologically to become a strikingly social species. Third, and most important, nobody can truly understand why we humans are so often our own worst enemies without also understanding how evolution has made us smart enough to imagine what could be out there if we put our talents and learned social skills together to reshape the world to suit our individual and collective needs and whims. Thereby, evolution has also made it possible for us to overreach, stumble, ignore the warning signs of impending troubles, and ultimately fail.
