The Evolutionary Story Of Human Friendship - Robin Dunbar - #604

Modern Wisdom

Chris Williamson

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2023

⏱️ 91 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Robin Dunbar is an anthropologist, evolutionary psychologist, head of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group at the University of Oxford and an author. Most animals need friends to survive. But no other animal has as layered and complex a social life as humans. The last 2 million years from trees to plains to apartments has caused huge changes to the setup of our social groups, and it's a fascinating story. Expect to learn why any group size over 90 ends up with more people being killed than being born, why men don't have a best friend forever but women do, the link between human brain size and social groups, how male and female friendships differ, why the modern world has the most loneliness ever, what the single largest impact on your health is and much more... Sponsors: Get 10% discount on all Gymshark’s products at https://bit.ly/sharkwisdom (use code: MW10) Get $100 discount on the best water filter on earth from AquaTru at https://bit.ly/drinkwisdom (discount automatically applied) Get 20% discount on all Keto Brainz products at https://ketobrainz.com/modernwisdom (use code: MW20) and follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ketobrainz/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:18) Why Humans, Monkeys & Apes Have Huge Brains (05:18) How Human Social Groups Evolved (13:39) How Group Dynamics Impact Fertility (28:30) Why Living in a Big City is an Evolutionary Mismatch (45:08) How Did We Get From Small Tribes to Larger Settlements? (52:58) The Evolutionary Struggles of Growing Groups (1:02:01) Differences Between Male & Female Friendships (1:17:41) Why Men Think Women Are Attracted to Them (1:22:47) Where to Find Robin Extra Stuff: Buy The Social Brain - https://amzn.to/41YvOt9 Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom - Episodes You Might Enjoy: This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠ How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠ The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ Get in touch. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends, welcome back to the show.
0:03.0	My guest today is Robin Dunbar.
0:04.8	He's an anthropologist, evolutionary psychologist,
0:07.4	head of the social and evolutionary neuroscience research
0:10.6	group at the University of Oxford and an author.
0:14.4	Most animals need friends to survive,
0:16.6	but no other animal has his layered and complex
0:19.7	of social life as humans.
0:21.3	The last two million years from trees to plains
0:24.1	to apartments has caused huge changes
0:26.8	to the setup of our social groups,
0:28.7	and it's a fascinating story.
0:30.5	Expect to learn why any group size over 90
0:33.3	ends up with more people being killed than being born.
0:36.3	Why men don't have a best friend forever, but women do.
0:39.5	The link between human brain size and social groups,
0:42.3	how male and female friendships differ,
0:44.6	why the modern world has the most loneliness ever,
0:47.9	what the single largest impact on your health is,
0:51.0	and much more.
0:53.4	Dunbar is such a legend, man.
0:55.2	I could speak to this guy all day.
	...

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