About this episode

Joe Henrich discusses how culture transformed human evolution and enabled the development of complex societies.

Joe Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on cultural evolution, human psychology, sociality, prestige, cooperation, and the emergence of complex societies. In this episode, Robinson and Joe discuss how culture transformed human evolution and enabled our species to build increasingly large and complex societies. More particularly, they talk about the tools of paleoanthropology, hunter-gatherer societies, the rise of massive cities, and why Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic—or WEIRD—people are psychologically unusual. They also discuss dominance hierarchies, attractiveness and prestige, the evolution of morality, and the importance of punishment in human societies. Joe’s most recent popular book is The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020). Joe’s Website: https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu The WEIRDest People in the World: https://amzn.to/3F3wUY7 OUTLINE 00:00 Tools of Paleoanthropology 07:31 Two Hunter-Gatherer Societies 13:12 How Culture Enabled…

People in this episode

Host: Robinson Erhardt

Guest: Joe Henrich

Topics covered

• cultural evolution
• human psychology
• sociality
• complex societies
• paleoanthropology
• morality
• punishment

Keywords

• cultural evolution
• human psychology
• WEIRD people
• paleoanthropology
• dominance hierarchies
• morality
• punishment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard University, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Books & works: The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

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