About this episode

Joseph Henrich discusses how culture shapes our lives and creates a collective brain that influences our identities.

How does the culture in which you live shape the life that you lead? We all know that culture affects the languages we speak and the foods we eat. But anthropologist Joseph Henrich says the impact of culture goes even further, reaching into our bodies and our minds. He takes us on a journey through time to show how human cultures create a "collective brain," and how that shared knowledge profoundly shapes who we are and how we live.

People in this episode

Host: Shankar Vedantam

Guest: Joseph Henrich

Topics covered

• culture
• anthropology
• collective brain
• human behavior
• social influence

Keywords

• culture
• anthropology
• collective brain
• human cultures
• social behavior

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hidden Brain

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