I – Humanity has advanced to its current state through its ability to collect, use, integrate, contextualize, create, and transmit information.

II – Humanity’s earliest and most enduring method for expressing large quantities of information in usable form is through Shared Stories.

III – To date, humanity’s Shared Stories have taken the form of cultural narratives, mythologies, theologies, histories, and, more recently, scientific explanations.

IV – Shared Stories enable interaction and cooperation among individuals with no prior social bonds by providing a common knowledge base.

V – Shared Stories generate mutual understanding and cooperation, forming the basis for large‑scale coordination and mobilization.

VI – As humanity encounters increasingly complex information, situations, and problems, large‑scale understanding, coordination, and cooperation become increasingly necessary.

VII – Shared Stories will therefore remain vital to the continuation and flourishing of an ever‑growing and ever‑more‑complex species.

VIII – Those Who Muse accept that our Musings constitute an evolving Shared Story.