Scholars enjoy writing about the Greeks—individuality, and development of the first democracy. But the West began with Egyptian civilization, which flourished for over three-thousand years. Here we witness the origin of civilization in sacrifice—the pyramids—that required the expenditure of vast human and material resources. The labor of tens-of-thousands of men for thousands of years was devoted to building these megalithic structures.

The pyramids had no practical use; did not produce economic benefits. On the contrary, they were a drain on Egyptian society, syphoning off energy to create “worthless” structures—that nevertheless contained profound symbolic significance.

It does not require genius to interpret the symbolism of the pyramids: they testified to the immortality of the Pharaoh. This monumental tomb contained—embodied—the fantasy of immortality. If the Pharaoh could live forever, perhaps other human begins could as well. It was a dream—a gigantic fantasy—that compelled human beings to abandon the veldt, and to develop an economic surplus.

Civilization begins with the creation of massive, monumental structures requiring the expenditure of vast resources—in the name of a project that serves no practical purpose. Devoted to the proposition that the King would live eternally in his second life, the pyramids had no biological or evolutionary significance.

Human beings became human in flight from their animal nature—as they enacted a gigantic fantasy. This fantasy—the central human fantasy—is that some animals do not entirely die, but live forever.