Monsters, Spotted: The 229th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
Jun 12, 2024
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Evolutionary biologists Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying discuss empathy, psychopathic behavior in corporations, failures of utopias, and the human need for storytelling. They explore concepts like kin selection, reciprocity, and the importance of narratives in understanding the world.
Narrative understanding is vital for human cognition, surpassing rationality.
Utopian ideals fail to satisfy human brain's craving for growth and novelty.
Verisimilitude in narratives ensures coherence and engagement for readers.
Deep dives
The Power and Limitations of Narrative Understanding
Narrative understanding plays a crucial role in how humans make sense of the world, surpassing mere rationality and analysis. The book 'Story Thinking' by Angus Fletcher explores how narrative intelligence is fundamental to human cognition. Plato's tale of Er in 'The Republic' introduces the idea of a static faith in logical analysis, which eventually spreads to various religions and modern ideologies like communism and the singularity. However, Fletcher argues that the biological nature of humans does not align with this static notion, as we inherently seek growth, challenges, and new experiences beyond mere logical dictates.
The Flaw in Utopian Ideals
Utopian ideals, whether in Plato's narratives or modern incarnations like communism or the singularity, suffer from a fundamental flaw. Even if logical perfection and ideal societies were achieved, humans' narrative brains crave novelty, challenges, and growth beyond static utopias. Fletcher highlights that our need for adventure and exploration would eventually lead to dissatisfaction with ideal logic-driven societies, as our brain desires more than eternal stability and perfection.
Verisimilitude and Narrative Coherence
Verisimilitude, the idea that a false story can still ring true in its underlying mechanics, underscores the importance of coherence in narratives. Bad science fiction that lacks narrative coherence fails to engage readers, as it repeatedly triggers disbelief and fails to create a fictional world that is internally consistent. Coherent narratives, even in fictional worlds, are essential for compelling storytelling and engaging readers' imagination.
Challenges of Bad Science Fiction in Storytelling
Creating a fictional world in science fiction that lacks narrative coherence leads to depleting the suspension of disbelief repeatedly. Crafting a universe that not only challenges readers to suspend disbelief but also does so in a clumsy or uncareful manner disrupts the storytelling experience. Writers must ensure consistent internal logic and avoid introducing new levels of disbelief-suspending elements without addressing existing paradoxes within the narrative structure.
The Importance of Verisimilitude in Narratives and Science
Verisimilitude is essential for narratives to be internally consistent and believable. It is akin to the concept of resolving paradoxes by digging deeper. While complete understanding of the universe may be elusive, science aims to provide better insights. Any narrative or universe where conflicting elements exist without resolution lacks plausibility and coherence.
The Role of Storytelling in Human Consciousness and Understanding
Storytelling and intuition play crucial roles in human consciousness and decision-making. Intuition guides us through familiar scenarios, while the conscious mind tackles novel situations. Storytelling, as a form of narrative intelligence, complements scientific rigor. The quality of life, driven by meaning and beauty, requires a balance of analytical thinking and storytelling to navigate complexities effectively.
In this 229th in a series of live discussions with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying (both PhDs in Biology), we talk about the state of the world through an evolutionary lens.
In this week’s episode, we discuss empathy, sympathy, and theory of mind; corporate personhood, psychopathic behavior, and the limitations of humans; kin selection, and reciprocity, both direct and indirect. Then: utopias, and why they fail, from the hero of Er in Plato’s Republic to the Singularity. And we discuss the human need for story, which exists next to, and perhaps deeper than, our need for analysis and logic.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Lahti and Weinstein 2005. The better angels of our nature: Group stability and the evolution of moral tension. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(1): 47-63: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=c5669ae3f2b5ba89967ab466b1095ab9c6d99c8c
DarkHorse Evolutionary Lens #128: Wouldn’t Put It Past ‘Em: https://rumble.com/v4zrlvl-the-228th-evolutionary-lens-with-bret-weinstein-and-heather-heying.html
Angus Fletcher, professor of story science, FAQs: https://www.angusfletcher.co/faqs
