Joseph Henrich Episode 2: Homo Sapiens, the Cultural Species

In this episode of the Life Itself Podcast, Rufus Pollock sits down with Professor Joseph Henrich to continue the discussion on the study of cultural evolution.

In this episode they discuss the innate human inclination to develop and learn from culture and to transmit this knowledge across generations. This conversation emphasizes that our success as a species is attributed not only to individual intelligence but also our capacity to expand upon ancestral wisdom.

Join us in the conversation as Joseph shares insights around the pivotal role culture and social bonds have in the development and continuation of vital skills and ideas. Wider factors such as group dynamics, environments, and competition are further discussed along with the impact of cognitive processes on cultural transformation.

This conversation forms part of the Cultural Evolution: A New Discipline is Born Series.

You can learn more here: https://lifeitself.org/learn/culturology

Joseph Henrich is a Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is author of several books, most recently 'The Weirdest People in the World' and 'The Secret of Our Success'. His research focuses on evolutionary approaches to psychology, decision-making and culture, and includes topics related to cultural learning, cultural evolution, culture-gene coevolution, human sociality, prestige, leadership, large-scale cooperation, religion and the emergence of complex human institutions.

Rufus Pollock is an entrepreneur, activist and author. He has founded several for-profit and nonprofit initiatives including Life Itself, Open Knowledge Foundation, and Datopian. His book Open Revolution is about making a radically freer and fairer information age. Previously he has been the Mead Fellow in Economics at the University of Cambridge as well as a Shuttleworth and Ashoka Fellow. A recognized global expert on the information society, he has worked with G7 governments, IGOs like the UN, Fortune 500s as well as many civil society organizations. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. Find out more about his work on his website: ⁠rufuspollock.com⁠.

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