The World of Sapiens

01.1 Consumer side

We observe an active pattern of self-destruction that cannot be explained by rational choice:

UNCONTROLLED BEHAVIOR: SELF-DESTRUCTION

Consumer side: A significant portion of mortality is caused by voluntary destructive behavior. Modeling shows that eliminating harmful habits alone could radically reduce mortality: unhealthy diet is responsible for ≈14% of deaths, tobacco smoking for ≈15.4%, alcohol consumption for ≈4.3% (The Lancet, 2020), and poor sleep for ≈8% (JACC, 2023).

At the same time, it is important to remember that death is only the final result, behind which lie acute and chronic diseases, that is, even more common consequences.

01.2 Producer side

COMMERCIAL DETERMINANTS OF DEATH

Producer side: The economic system stimulates the production and marketing of toxic products. At least 34% of global deaths are linked to the products of corporations from just four industries: ultra-processed food, alcohol, tobacco, and fossil fuel air pollution (The Lancet, 2023).

A WHO report examines the same problem, but locally for Europe, estimating mortality caused by the indicated 4 sectors at 25%. Official statement: "Industry entities use a wide range of tactics to maximize profit and undermine public health. These methods contribute to rising inequality and the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes. [Industry] creates a major barrier to preventive measures. The consolidation of these and other industry sectors into a small number of powerful transnational corporations has allowed them to gain significant influence over the political and legal context of their operations and to obstruct the adoption of regulations protecting public interests that could affect their profits. Industry tactics include exploiting vulnerable people through targeted marketing strategies, misleading consumers, and disseminating false claims about the benefits of their products or their environmental reputation" (WHO, 2024).

Only 4 industries, which annually cause premature death in at least 1.5 - 2 times as many people as died on average per year during World War II.

But there are others. For example, let us take another prestigious, from the investors' point of view, industry — not the most dangerous, but common: excessive sugar consumption (including in the form of sugary drinks) in animal experiments causes neuroadaptations in the dopaminergic and opioid reward systems and is accompanied by addiction-like manifestations (bingeing, withdrawal, craving) (Avena et al., 2008; Murray et al., 2016). Adolescent self-control is still developing, so stimuli can shift choices more strongly (Steinberg, 2013). Nevertheless, access to sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) for children is free; they are even sold in schools. There is "unequivocal evidence" of a link between the marketing of unhealthy products and SSBs with childhood obesity (UNICEF, 2022). At the same time, one (330 ml) can of regular cola, that is, the smallest possible portion, already contains almost 40% more sugar than the entire daily recommended dose of sugar for children, adolescents, and adult women (35 g versus 25 g, respectively) (AHA; Vos et al., 2017). Higher SSB consumption has been linked to a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes: +18% per 1 serving per day (here servings are 250 ml) (Imamura et al., 2015). Each additional serving per day is associated with approximately +8% risk of all-cause mortality (here a serving is 355 ml) (Zhang et al., 2020). In 2020, sugar-sweetened beverages were linked to approximately 2.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes, 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular diseases globally, and about 340,000 deaths (Lara-Castor et al., 2025).

All of this is known. And all of this is legal. The law literally does not protect the sapiens. Another self-regulation mechanism is broken.

VORRUPTION

Corruption is traditionally described as the abuse of public power for personal gain. However, there is a terminological gap: the language lacks a precise word for a business whose model is built on the exploitation or destruction of others' or public resources for the sake of corporate profit (such as the health or well-being of the population, ecosystems, and the environment). To describe this phenomenon, the IEH introduces a new term — "vorruption".

02.1 After commercial determinants

CLIMATE IMBALANCE

Ignoring delayed consequences has led to the number of natural disasters doubling in just 20 years (UNDRR, WMO) and continuing to rise. The rate of sea-level rise has doubled over the last 30 years (WMO, 2024) and continues to rise.

Climate-related expenditures have grown 7-fold over 23 years, from ~$200 billion in 2000 to $1.4 trillion in 2023 (in 2024 dollars, Bloomberg, The Climate Economy Outlook, 2025), and the annual growth rate of the global economy has slowed by a third (NBER, 2024). These (economic) estimates are likely understated: the real losses to the global economy, taking into account indirect damages and cascading consequences (business disruptions, damage to ecosystems, social costs), exceeded $ 2.3 trillion per year. Research clearly shows that losses from disasters are already significantly more expensive than measures to prevent them would have cost (UNDRR, GAR, 2025)

Leaders of almost all countries in the world agreed to keep global warming within 1.5°C to avoid even more catastrophic consequences, yet the commitments have not been met. The most recent scientific data predicts an irreversible crossing of the 1.5°C mark as early as 2028 [Kirchengast & Pichler, 2025; WMO, 2025], as well as the probability of reaching +2.0°C by ~2037–2040 and +3.0°C by ~2050–2060 (NASA, 2023; Foster & Rahmstorf, 2025; Kirchengast & Pichler, 2025; Hansen et al., 2025; DPG & DMG, Globale erwärmung beschleunigt sich, 2025). The situation is deteriorating rapidly, yet the global response remains disproportionately weak – both at the level of leaders and at the level of consumers. At the same time, even adaptation to the changes already occurring is critically underfunded – no more than 5% of all climate financing is directed toward it [NGFS, 2025, WMO, 2025].

DESTRUCTION OF ECOSYSTEMS

Since 1970, wild animal populations have declined by an average of 73% (WWF Living Planet Report, 2024). More than 40% of insect species are threatened with extinction, and a catastrophic decline in their biomass (up to 2.5% per year in some regions of the world) is being recorded (Sánchez-Bayo & Wyckhuys, 2019; Hallmann et al., 2017), which threatens the collapse of ecosystem services for pollination, on which 75% of the world's agricultural crops grown by humanity for food depend to one degree or another. The pollinator crisis puts the stability of global food systems under direct threat (Goulson, 2019).

03.1 Environment

ENVIRONMENT

LAND

Nearly 40% of all land is used for agriculture. 52% of this land has already degraded, threatening food security worldwide. However, faced with long-term declines in productivity and water scarcity, farmers paradoxically resort to even more aggressive use of harmful agrochemicals and inefficient irrigation systems, only exacerbating the crisis (UNCCD, 2022). Every year, we lose another 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land (UNCCD Data Dashboard, 2024). The number of pesticide applications has doubled over the last 25 years (Goulson et al., 2018). At the same time, the impact of pesticides (applied en masse and often legally) on cancer incidence can rival the harm from smoking (Deep Science Ventures, 2025). Toxicity has permeated everywhere — an analysis of honey samples from around the world showed that 75% of them contain neonicotinoid insecticides (Mitchell et al., Science, 2017).

AIR

More than 90% of the world's population is exposed to air pollution at levels above WHO guidelines (Deep Science Ventures, 2025). This is the cause of one in eight deaths on the planet, making air pollution the second most significant risk factor for death in the world (State of Global Air, 2024). It is particularly telling that those responsible for the sources of this pollution or for their regulation breathe this same air. Our analysis will mention other similar paradoxes that raise serious doubts about the rationality of the actors involved.

WATER AND "FOREVER CHEMICALS"

PFAS have polluted the entire world; in many places, concentrations in rainwater are so high that it cannot be considered safe for drinking (Deep Science Ventures, 2025). At least one type of PFAS is found in 45% of tap water samples in the US (USGS, 2023). PFAS are found in the blood of almost all US residents (CDC/NHANES, 2024).

More than half of rivers and almost all coastal marine waters in Europe (bays, estuaries) exceed safety standards for "forever chemicals." In some countries (France, Belgium), 100% of tested water bodies were found to be contaminated (JRC, 2024). In the US, PFAS are found in freshwater fish in all 48 contiguous states; out of 349 samples, only 1 was without detectable PFAS, and in a separate sample, 152 out of 152 samples had detectable PFAS (100%) (N. Barbo et al., 2023). PFAS have penetrated even the oceans — they are found in all layers of the marine food chain: from coastal dolphins to deep-sea predators. Even the most remote whales contain high concentrations of PFAS (Pereira et al., 2025). This means that both humans and animals are exposed to their influence and associated risks.

PFAS are associated with increased metabolic and cardiovascular risks. PFAS in drinking water are linked to higher incidence rates of several cancer groups (digestive, endocrine, oral/pharyngeal, respiratory) (Nature, 2025), and increased PFAS in blood is linked to a higher probability of type 2 diabetes (~+31%) (eBioMedicine, 2025) and worsening cardiovascular health (~+62%) (Frontiers in Public Health, 2024); meta-analyses also show measurable shifts in thyroid hormones (Science of the Total Environment, 2024).

"Forever chemicals" do not decompose. They accumulate in the environment and in the body. At the same time, there is no safe threshold below which there would be no harm to health. Even low levels, common among the general population, already show a negative correlation [Exposure and Health, 2024]. When consuming just one serving of local freshwater fish per year, the level of PFOS (one of the PFAS) in the blood can increase noticeably; according to the authors' estimate, one serving per year is comparable to about a month of drinking water with high PFOS content (Environmental Research, 2023).

This is not a surprise. PFAS have long been known for their negative effects; once some of them were banned, corporations switched to others.

PLASTIC

The chemical basis of the modern plastic industry: phthalates (make plastic flexible and elastic, e.g., PVC, food films, toys, IV drips), bisphenols (make plastic hard and transparent, e.g., office water bottles), flame retardants (fire-protective additives in household appliances, furniture, cars), and others. They are used everywhere due to their low cost and convenience. The cumulative mortality from just these three groups is about 600,000 people per year in the 38 countries studied (The Lancet, 2025). With direct extrapolation to the world, the figure could be about 2 million deaths annually, which exceeds the number of deaths in traffic accidents.

Microplastics and nanoplastics: discovered almost everywhere, including in human brain tissue, where their concentration has increased by approximately 50% over the last 8 years (University of New Mexico, 2025). Polyethylene microplastics can act as a "Trojan horse," facilitating the entry of BPA into cells; the combined exposure to PE-microplastics and BPA causes synergistic toxic effects and endocrine disruption (Scientific Reports, 2025). In addition to their own additives, microplastics exhibit a "vector effect": they adsorb hydrophobic organic pollutants from water, transport them, and release them in the intestines of aquatic organisms, which leads to increased bioaccumulation (Chemosphere, 2025).

Lack of information: This is the proven minimum damage from the three most studied groups of chemicals — three out of many others. At the same time: "Approximately 75% of chemicals contained in plastic have not been assessed for their impact on human health. Of those for which data are available, approximately 75% were identified as particularly hazardous due to their toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and mobility. Almost 1,500 of these chemicals are carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to the reproductive system, and more than 1,700 are toxic to specific organs, such as the liver. 47 of these chemicals are recognized in the EU as endocrine disruptors, and for more than 1,800, it has been shown that they leach from plastic and have high potential for human exposure. At the same time, with the exception of these chemicals, for the majority of plastic products we encounter in everyday life, little or no information is available regarding their chemical composition, toxic effects, or potential danger. The lack of transparency regarding which chemicals are present in plastic, their applications, production volumes, and toxic effects limits our understanding of the full spectrum of potential harm from chemicals in plastic to human health and the planet" (The Lancet Countdown on health and plastics, 2025).

Despite this, water continues to be sold all over the world in plastic bottles and office jugs, and even storage and transportation methods do not take into account factors that exacerbate the leaching of chemicals into water (e.g., heating, solar radiation, or aging of the packaging). At the same time, testing for the presence of PFAS and purification from them is also an extremely rare practice.

This means that the majority of the population of the US and Europe, and likely the entire planet, regularly consumes water exposed to both factors simultaneously — both contamination by toxic plastic leachates and PFAS.

REGULATORS

"The world is struggling with rising cancer incidence, declining fertility, and an increase in chronic diseases... The industrial economy has created more than 100 million new chemical substances... Our understanding of toxicity is outdated because it relies on the 500-year-old concept that 'the dose makes the poison.' Regulators and corporations still rely primarily on an outdated toxicological model that ignores non-monotonic dose-response curves, the combined effect of multiple chemicals, and differences between sexes. This model uses high doses to estimate safe thresholds and therefore often overlooks the toxic effects of low doses, especially in the case of endocrine disruptors" (Deep Science Ventures, 2025, my translation).

04.1 Economic Logic

THE ECONOMY OF SUICIDE

Re-verifying the objectivity of the analysis… Global investments in activities that destroy the biosphere are 30 times higher than investments in its protection – $7.3 trillion vs $0.22 trillion, (UNEP, 2026). The destruction of the biosphere, which is the foundation of human life, may prove incompatible with survival even at the current level of technology.

The volume of global government subsidies that harm the environment is almost 3 times higher than even optimistic estimates of global government R&D investments — $2.6 trillion (Earth Track, 2024) vs an estimated ceiling of $0.9 trillion (calculated as 30% (maximum share of government participation according to UNESCO methodology) of the total global R&D expenditure ($2.9 trillion, WIPO "Global R\&D Spending" (2025).

ECOLOGICAL OVERSHOOT

Humanity has entered a critical stage of "Overshoot," consuming resources 1.8 times faster than the biosphere is capable of regenerating them (Global Footprint Network, 2025). Anthropogenic pressure has reached unprecedented scales: the Earth's population has grown more than 2-fold in 50 years, the biomass of humans and livestock accounts for 96% of all mammalian biomass on Earth, leaving only 4% for wildlife (Bar-On et al., 2018). According to the fundamental laws of population ecology, any biological species that exponentially exceeds the carrying capacity of its habitat inevitably faces a forced "population correction" (a sharp decline in numbers) under the pressure of an exhausted ecosystem (Rees, 2023). Technological progress has only delayed, but not canceled, the operation of this biological imperative.

PLANETARY BOUNDARIES AND TIPPING POINTS

Humanity has already breached 7 out of 9 planetary boundaries that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth. Exceeding this "safe operating space" implies further degradation and destabilization of planetary health in the near future, creating a direct risk of irreversible destruction of life-support systems (Planetary Health Check, 2025).

Raising the stakes in the world's biggest gamble

"Over the last decade, human activity has pushed the Earth system outside of a safe operating space. Humanity needs to act immediately to limit the overshoot of planetary boundaries, because by the time the scale of the consequences becomes obvious to everyone, it will be too late to prevent them. In the case of climate change — which is already causing millions of premature deaths annually — serious global consequences are expected on all continents within the lifetime of the current young generation if measures are not accelerated immediately" (Rockström et al., 2026).

"There is growing concern that the Earth system itself is losing resilience, which threatens potentially serious consequences. Factors accelerating global warming include increasing radiative forcing due to reduced aerosol loading, significant changes in albedo, and changes in cloud dynamics. Compelling evidence is emerging of a decline in the ability of oceans and terrestrial ecosystems to absorb excess carbon. This indicates the beginning of a weakening in the stability of the current state of the Earth system, leading to unpredictable shifts in climate feedbacks: from damping (mitigating) feedbacks that help stabilize the Earth system (negative), to self-reinforcing feedbacks that amplify initial changes (positive). This requires immediate and decisive action to mitigate risks" (Rockström et al., 2026).

05.1 Systemic level

POLYCRISIS SINGULARITY

The greatest threat is not individual changes, but their cascading effect.

The convergence of climate destabilization, mass extinction, and resource depletion forms a single synergistic mechanism of cascading failures. The mutual reinforcement of these factors acts as a global "threat multiplier," generating non-linear consequences whose scale lies beyond the cognitive perception and predictive capabilities of existing economic models. The situation is exacerbated by an epistemological gap: even regarding climate change, science still lacks a single integral model capable of calculating all feedback loops and cascading consequences. At the current level of technology, we are moving blindly through a systemic phase transition of the biosphere, creating existential risks incompatible with the preservation of organized civilization.

THE PARADOX OF AVAILABLE SOLUTIONS

The critical vulnerability of civilization lies not in a shortage of technology or a lack of strategy. Most of the listed problems have solutions. For example, even regarding climate change, the necessary methods and technologies already exist; they are scalable and economically more efficient than the fossil fuel paradigm.

INSTITUTIONAL DEADLOCK

Attempts to solve these problems through the creation of regulatory institutions (legal, international) demonstrate low efficiency. Lies, corruption, and the priority of private gain over the common good have become normalized and ubiquitous practices.

The critical error lies in the fact that both the architects and the operators of containment systems are subjects with the same biological architecture. History demonstrates that institutions inevitably degrade or are used as weapons because the human nature they are intended to regulate is "on both sides of the fence."

Moreover, hierarchical power systems inadvertently create mechanisms of "negative selection." Neurobiological traits that facilitate the seizure of power in a competitive environment (hypertrophied Ego, suppressed empathy, aggression) often correlate with the "Dark Triad" profile. As a result, planetary-scale security systems end up in the hands of leaders whose cognitive architecture is biologically disinclined or unable to prioritize society over the private. This generates a strategy of "parasitic gain," in which individual success is achieved at the cost of depleting public resources (socialization of costs), which deprives the system of its safety margin and shifts global risks into a mode of progressive destabilization.

"In a sample of corporate professionals selected by companies for management development programs (mostly managers and top managers), the proportion of people with very high psychopathic scores on the PCL:SV equivalent (≥13) was 5.9% compared to 1.2% in a large sample from the general population — that is, approximately 5 times higher." (Babiak et al., 2010). Among managers and top managers, the proportion of people with pronounced psychopathic traits is several times higher than in the general population (about 6% versus 1%). At the same time, the majority of executives are not psychopaths. It is important that psychopathic traits help in career advancement through charisma, aggressive self-promotion, and the ability to make an impression, but are simultaneously associated with poor management, team destruction, and low real utility for the organization (Babiak et al., 2010).

Among managers and top managers, the proportion of people with pronounced psychopathic traits is several times higher than in the general population (about 6% versus 1%). At the same time, the majority of executives are not psychopaths. It is important that psychopathic traits help in career advancement through charisma, aggressive self-promotion, and the ability to make an impression, but are simultaneously associated with poor management, team destruction, and low real utility for the organization (Babiak et al., 2010).

06.1 Causality

PARASITIC HOMEOSTASIS

The capture of key control nodes by agents with destructive neurobiological traits triggers a positive feedback mechanism. When subjects prone to exploitation and manipulation become the architects of institutions, the system itself is transformed to suit their needs. This leads to an inversion of incentives: honest, cooperative, and "sustainable" behavior becomes evolutionarily disadvantageous, while corruption and parasitizing the common good turn into the dominant survival strategy. The environment begins to reproduce and reinforce the pathology itself, stifling attempts at reform.

This is likely one of the key reasons for the lack of initiatives for fundamental changes in the world order. Congresses and summits are convened only to discuss consequences, but at the highest level, there is still not a single event aimed at eradicating the cause (The Sapiens Problem).

COGNITIVE GAP AND INFORMATION ASYMMETRY

Epistemological barrier: The status quo is facilitated by a fundamental gap in the perception of reality. The exponential growth in the complexity of global processes and the acceleration of the pace of life create cognitive overload for the average person, hindering deep analysis of the situation. The deficit of time and expertise is exacerbated by the fact that key channels for interpreting reality are controlled by the beneficiaries of the current system. This forms a distorted picture of the world in which the predatory practices of elites are normalized, while the true scale of managerial incompetence and risks remains hidden from public consciousness.

ILLUSION OF CONTROL AND EXISTENTIAL DENIAL

"Ship without a pilot" syndrome: The collective psyche of society protects itself through denial. Accepting the fact that the planetary system is moving toward collapse not because of malicious intent, but because of the chaotic sum of selfish decisions by a multitude of agents (no one is actually managing the global trajectory) creates a critical psychological burden incompatible with the habitual worldview. It is easier to believe in conspiracy theories or the wisdom of leaders than to admit that civilization is indeed drifting toward catastrophe solely by virtue of its own biological irrationality.

PARADOX OF EXPERTISE

Ignoring navigation: The only group possessing the methodology for an objective assessment of the course — the scientific community — finds itself in systemic isolation. Expert knowledge is either ignored when it contradicts the short-term interests of elites, or cynically instrumentalized to serve corporate narratives. Scientifically grounded forecasts are systematically deprioritized in favor of the imperatives of the short-term struggle for resource redistribution.

RESULT

"Deepening divisions and growing fragmentation are reshaping international relations and calling into question the ability of existing structures to address the collective problems we face. The level of global cooperation in many areas of geopolitics and humanitarian issues, economic relations, as well as environmental, social and technological problems may reach new lows in the coming years. Key countries seem to be turning inward, focusing on growing domestic economic or social problems, just when they should be seeking to strengthen multilateral ties to address common problems" (Global Risks Report 2025).

“The key theme of the 2026 global risk forecast was uncertainty. GRPS respondents (more than 1,300 leading global experts from business, government, and academia) assessed both the short-term and long-term global outlook negatively: 50% of respondents expect either a turbulent or stormy outlook over the next two years, worsening to 57% when forecasting for ten years. Another 40% and 32%, respectively, believe that the global environment will be unstable in the two- and ten-year perspective, with only 1% expecting calm development of events in either of these time horizons” (Global Risks Report 2026).

CAUSALITY CHAIN

Systemic analysis allows for the reduction of the diversity of problems — from personal misfortune to global crises — to a common denominator. Key anthropogenic crises are the sum of decisions made by specific subjects. These decisions, in turn, are dictated by a specific brain architecture prone to protecting the "narrative Self" and cognitive biases. Thus, the "Sapiens Problem" acts not just as one of the factors, but as a Root Constraint, preventing the sustainable functioning of complex social systems.

Modern technologies have dramatically changed the cost of error. If previously biological immaturity led to local catastrophes, today it creates an existential risk.

GREAT FILTER

It is possible that the observed dynamics are an empirical manifestation of the "Great Filter" — a planetary-scale version of the same biological law of correction that inevitably weeds out civilizations that have failed to adapt their basic settings to the level of their own technologies.

07.1 References

1. 1. Avena NM, Rada P, Hoebel BG. Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2008;32(1):20–39. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.04.019.
   Full text (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2235907/
2. 2. Murray S, Tulloch A, Criscitelli K, Avena NM. Recent Studies of the Effects of Sugars on Brain Systems Involved in Energy Balance and Reward: Relevance to Low Calorie Sweeteners. Physiology & Behavior. 2016;164(Pt B):504–508. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.04.004.
   Full text (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5003688/