A fascinating, far-reaching study of how our species' innate capacity for culture altered the course of our social and evolutionary history.
Humans demonstrate a remarkable propensity for altruism. We help those in need, make sacrifices for our communities, and perform acts of heroism. At the same time, however, our world is fractured by war and genocide, and we have a tendency to distrust those who are different from us. How can we reconcile such disparate aspects of our nature?
To answer this question, evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel takes us back eighty thousand years to a remarkable moment in our evolutionary history: the development of culture. As our ancestors began to live in larger tribal societies, it became advantageous for them to work together and to distinguish themselves from other groups with which they competed for resources.
To that end, they created shared customs and beliefs; spread ideas, skills, and tech-nologies; formed languages; and developed dance, music, and art. Thanks to culture, humans could learn from one another and benefit from the support and
Rather than brute competition, cooperation became a key part of our evolutionary strategy. Both for daily survival and for our success as a species, our minds finally mattered more than our genes. wisdom of their communities.