We live inside shared fictions

Money, companies, borders, and laws are powerful because enough people behave as if they are real.

That does not make them trivial. Shared fictions organise physical behaviour, distribute resources, and determine who can act. A story believed by millions becomes part of the environment in which everyone lives.

The practical lesson is that institutions are neither natural facts nor mere imagination. They are maintained realities.

They can change when belief and coordination change, but not simply because one person sees through the story.