Monsters, Spotted: The 229th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
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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Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.com
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Our book, A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)
Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org
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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/documen...
DarkHorse Evolutionary Lens #128: Wouldn’t Put It Past ‘Em: https://rumble.com/v4zrlvl-the-228th-...
Angus Fletcher, professor of story science, FAQs: https://www.angusfletcher.co/faqs
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Welcome
(02:25) Sponsors
(12:50) Empathy, sympathy, and theory of mind
(28:30) Toolkit upgrade and normies
(36:15) Kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and indirect reciprocity
(40:00) Psychopathic corporations and Volkswagen emissions
(48:00) Simplifying assumption
(57:15) Utopias and why they fail
(01:02:30) Excerpt and story
(01:17:15) Consciousness and animal behaviour
(01:21:26) Toby's highschool graduation
(01:32:48) Story is a trajectory
(01:39:30) Wrap up