#839 Michael Muthukrishna: A Theory of Everyone
Dr. Michael Muthukrishna is an Associate Professor of Economic Psychology at the London School of Economics. His other affiliations include Affiliate of the Developmental Economics Group at STICERD, Affiliate of the Data Science Institute, Azrieli Global Scholar at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), Technical Director of The Database of Religious History, and Board member of the One Pencil Project. His research focuses on the psychological and evolutionary processes that underlie culture and how culture is transmitted, maintained, and modified. He is the author of A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going.
In this episode, we focus on A Theory of Everyone. We begin with the premise of the book, and what a “theory of everyone” is. We talk about four laws of life: energy, innovation, cooperation, and evolution. We discuss how cooperation expands in human societies, and what distinguishes us from other animals. We talk about intelligence and IQ, and the collective brain and the idea of “genius”. We discuss the importance of institutions and cultural norms, and the role of ideas. We talk about multiculturalism, and how to solve the “paradox of diversity”. We discuss our current energy ceiling, and the problems that derive from it and how to solve them. Finally, we talk about the challenges of studying human behavior cross-culturally.
Time Links:
Intro
The premise of the book
A “theory of everyone”
The laws of life
How cooperation expands in human societies
What distinguishes us from other animals
Intelligence and IQ
The collective brain, and the idea of “genius”
Institutions and cultural norms
The role of ideas
Multiculturalism, and the “paradox of diversity”
Our current energy ceiling and its consequences
Solutions to our current problems
The challenges of studying human behavior cross-culturally
Follow Dr. Muthukrishna’s work!
Follow Dr. Muthukrishna’s work:
Our first interview: https://youtu.be/2hlTbcwlC7k
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2JrvYoU
Website: https://bit.ly/46Ljgb8
Works on Researchgate: https://bit.ly/2XvyygB
A Theory of Everyone: https://bit.ly/46L5uoX
Twitter handle: @mmuthukrishna