Agustín Fuentes, an anthropologist at Princeton University, dives into the intriguing world of DNA testing and race. He explores why these tests, like those from 23andMe, mislead users into thinking they accurately reveal racial identities. Fuentes emphasizes race as a social construct, detailing how simplistic interpretations of genetic data overlook the complex nature of human genetics. He shares surprising truths about ancestry that challenge common perceptions, urging listeners to rethink how they connect their genetics to identity.

Agustín Fuentes, an anthropology and primatology professor, explores the connection between belief and what it means to be human. He discusses the interconnection of biology and culture, the power and dangers of belief, the role of sociality in human capacity, cultural evolution and its impact, the power and perils of belief, and the complexity of belief and the science behind it.

We’ve realized in 2020 that the way we’ve organized culture — from the economy to race to work — could be done radically differently. We’ve been modeling our life together on “survival of the fittest” long after science itself moved on from that. And we’re learning to see that in every sphere of life we inhabit ecosystems. Agustín Fuentes brings spacious insight into all of this as a biological and evolutionary anthropologist, exploring how humans behave, function, and change together. In this conversation, he is full of refreshingly creative and practical fodder for the necessary reinvention ahead. Agustín Fuentes is a professor of anthropology at Princeton University. He’s authored or edited more than 20 books, most recently Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.