The World Is More Fiction Than Fact

And That’s Why It Feels So Real

"A tree doesn’t know it's on private property.
A mountain doesn’t care which country it stands in.
But humans fight, die and live for these things every single day."

We like to believe we are guided by facts. That our lives are shaped by logic, science, and reality. But take a closer look, and you’ll realise something strange. The world we live in is built more on shared imagination than on cold, hard truth.

We are not just living in reality. We are living inside stories. And the most powerful ones are the ones we never even think to question.

What is a "Fiction" Anyway?

Let’s be clear. Fiction doesn’t mean false. Fiction simply means something that doesn’t exist in the physical world but becomes real because enough people believe in it.

Take money. A ₹2000 note is just paper. A digital wallet is just numbers. Yet this paper and these numbers can decide if someone eats or starves, lives or dies. Why? Because we all agree to trust them.

This is the power of fiction. It is invisible, but it shapes everything.

The Pyramid of Fiction We Live In

To understand how deeply fiction runs in our world, let’s look at four levels of reality:

1. Physical Reality
This is the world as it exists without humans – rivers, rocks, stars, animals. A lion doesn’t need a passport. A mountain doesn’t know it's in India or Nepal.

2. Functional Reality
Tools, agriculture, electricity, medicine. These are based on facts and experiments. They help us survive.

3. Social Reality (Fiction)
Marriage, money, caste, religion, gender roles. These exist only in human belief systems. A ₹500 note has no value to a cow. The idea of "upper caste" or "lower caste" exists only in the minds of people.

4. Meta-Fiction
Nations, corporations, laws, digital identities. These are fictions built on top of other fictions. You cannot physically touch the "Government of India" or "Apple Inc.", yet they control billions of lives.

The Strongest Beliefs Are the Ones We Don’t Question

"The most dangerous stories are not the ones we are told. They are the ones we live inside without realising."

Here are some everyday examples of powerful fictions:

Money
It has no meaning in nature. Yet it decides your worth in society. If belief in money disappears, its value collapses. History has shown this in Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and even during demonetisation in India.

Borders and Nations
A child born on one side of an imaginary line becomes Indian. Another, a Pakistani. Their destinies are shaped forever by something nature never created.

Corporations
Tata, Reliance, Google, Tesla – these are not people. They are legal fictions, yet they can hire, fire, sue, buy land, and influence governments.

Religion
Every religion believes in a different version of truth. Yet for billions, these unseen powers feel more real than gravity. Temples and rituals shape daily lives, even though the gods themselves are matters of faith.

Brands
A ₹3000 shirt from Zara and a ₹300 shirt from a local market may be made in the same factory. What you're paying for is the story, the emotion, the identity.

Yes, Even Love is Fictional

"Love may be the most beautiful story we choose to believe.
It has no shape, no colour, no proof. Yet it builds families, breaks hearts, and gives life meaning."

Think about it. Love cannot be seen or touched. But people marry, sacrifice, migrate, even kill for it. Love is real because we treat it as real. But it is still, at its core, a story two people agree to tell each other.

When the story breaks, the relationship breaks. But the pain feels real because fiction, when lived long enough, becomes reality.

So, What’s the Point?

You might wonder, if everything is fiction, what is the truth?

The truth is that fiction is not the opposite of reality. Fiction is how humans create shared reality. Without it, we wouldn’t have societies, schools, governments or relationships. The danger is not in believing fiction, but in never realising that it is fiction.

Once you become aware of this, you gain freedom. You can choose which stories to believe, which myths to reject, and which new truths to create.

Final Thought

"Nature doesn't care about your documents, designations or degrees. It only knows life and death.
The rest is a story humans invented to feel safe, important, and in control."

So the next time someone tells you “tha

t’s just the way the world works,” pause and ask yourself – is it a fact, or just a very old story we forgot to stop telling?

Because in the end, the world is more fiction than fact. And maybe, just maybe, that's where both its danger – and its beauty – lies.

Ready to question your reality?

What’s one story you’ve always believed… but now want to question?
Let me know in the comments.