I was thrilled to have a conversation with Joesph Henrich, a distinguished anthropologist and evolutionary biologist at Harvard. Renowned for his interdisciplinary research on cultural evolution and the origins of WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) societies, Joseph is a deep dude.
We had a wide-ranging discussion on topics such as cultural learning, social contagion, and the WEIRD phenomenon. We explored the interplay between truth and religion, the economic and political impacts of kinship structures, and cognitive development in non-schooled environments. Additionally, we talked about David Deutsch’s work on falsifiability and its role in building systems of knowledge, divination, witchcraft, rationality, and the question of who might be considered the "weirdest" people in the world.
Joseph is one of those individuals with whom I could speak for hours on end. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope you find it as interesting as I did.
Great podcast -- Joe's book 'The WEIRDest People in the World' is one I recommend often. What is interesting is that Joe never refers on a structural basis on "How" people connect. This is neurogenic, and at some level this sin of omission prevents a deeper understanding of how societies evolve and devolve. The physics of sentience are poorly understood, but drive the ways a society generates knowledge, as well as dictates its complexity level. I've already charted this space extensively. Joe contributes in the best way a Harvard professor can -- with exhaustive experiments generated by a larger team of researchers. As a theoretical epistemologist, my work closely aligns, but with more mathematical/informatic concepts mixed in. Here you go: https://empathy.guru/2019/04/06/what-is-structural-memetics-and-why-does-it-matter/