Some things, like the interstate highway system, e, can be solved by one corporation or one individual. These are collected action problems. So the question is, does it depend on my really caring about complete strangers? Or is there some selfish motive? Well, in the long run, i'm going to benefit, because we're all going to benefit. Something like that.
In a few decades, a torrent of new evidence and ideas about human evolution has allowed scientists to piece together a more detailed understanding of what went on thousands and even millions of years ago. Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson, a husband-and-wife team based at the University of California, Davis, have spent years together and individually researching and collaborating with scholars from a wide range of disciplines to produce a deep history of humankind. In A Story of Us, they present this rich narrative and explain how the evolution of our genes relates to the evolution of our cultures.