Consuming Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari will forever cure you of doubting the impact of fiction on humanity.
I think I've listened to this book six times, now, on audible. Sadly, because I often listen to it at night, I have been awake for some parts more often than for others. But the first time I went end to end with rapt fascination.
Fiction is what makes it possible for humans to organize ourselves beyond the hunter-gatherer limit of about 100 individuals. It is also at the root of "us" and "them" when fictions differ. He counts things like religions, cultural affiliation and monetary systems among fictions.
It's a grand, unifying theory of the importance of the stories we tell ourselves.
See also:
Parker, I. (Feb 10, 2020). Yuval Noah Harari’s History of Everyone, Ever. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/yuval-noah-harari-gives-the-really-big-picture
Gates, B. (May 17, 2016). How did humans get smart? https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Sapiens-A-Brief-History-of-Humankind
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