Joseph Henrich on WEIRD Societies and Life Among Two Strange Tribes (Live at Mason)
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2016
⏱️ 85 minutes
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Summary
To anthropologist Joseph Henrich, intelligence is overrated. Social learning, and its ability to influence biological evolution over time, is what really sets our species apart. He joined Tyler for a conversation on his work on cultural evolution, as well as his life among different tribes (academic and otherwise), Star Trek, big gods, small gods, China’s missing industrial revolution, the merits of coconut milk, the Flynn effect, American exceptionalism, and why he wants to travel in time to 6th-century Kent.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:08.4 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. |
| 0:12.5 | Learn more at mercatis.org. |
| 0:15.2 | And for more conversations, including videos, transcripts, and upcoming dates, visit |
| 0:20.4 | ConversationsWithT Tyler.com. |
| 0:25.5 | Before we get to today's conversation, I'd like to let you know of several upcoming |
| 0:29.8 | live dates with other guests, including Rabbi David Wolpy and Malcolm Gladwell. |
| 0:36.1 | All of these will be held in the DC area and they're free to attend. |
| 0:40.0 | For dates and for more information, just visit ConversationsWithT Tyler.com. |
| 0:51.3 | Joe's book is called The Secret of Aris Success. |
| 0:54.9 | The secret of his success is amazing intellect and drive. |
| 0:59.1 | I would describe him as currently the leading theorist on how cultural and biological evolution |
| 1:05.2 | interact. |
| 1:06.5 | He is an anthropologist at Harvard University, but much more than that, he does experimental |
| 1:11.4 | economics, political science, cultural psychology, sociology. |
| 1:16.6 | He studied economics with Paul Romer. |
| 1:19.0 | He's a true polymath. |
| 1:20.6 | I described him during our last session as, in a sense, the next Stephen Pinger. |
| 1:25.8 | The introduction could be much longer, but we'll talk more about Joe as we proceed. |
| 1:30.9 | Let me start with a simple question about your method. |
| 1:34.0 | I'm an economist and I'm familiar also with evolutionary biology. |
| 1:38.3 | If I come at a problem, I tend to use economic reasoning and then something from biology. |
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