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  • The Secret of Our Success

  • How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter
  • Written by: Joseph Henrich
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
  • Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)

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The Secret of Our Success

Written by: Joseph Henrich
Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
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Publisher's Summary

Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced ingenious technologies, sophisticated languages, and complex institutions that have permitted us to successfully expand into a vast range of diverse environments.

What has enabled us to dominate the globe, more than any other species, while remaining virtually helpless as lone individuals? This book shows that the secret of our success lies not in our innate intelligence, but in our collective brains - on the ability of human groups to socially interconnect and learn from one another over generations.

Drawing insights from lost European explorers, clever chimpanzees, mobile hunter-gatherers, neuroscientific findings, ancient bones, and the human genome, Joseph Henrich demonstrates how our collective brains have propelled our species' genetic evolution and shaped our biology.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2015 Princeton University Press (P)2018 Tantor

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Read this instead of Sapiens...

The Secret of Our Success makes a compelling case for how and why humans and human societies have developed, through culture gene co-evolution, backed up by extensive research. A much better book than Sapiens for example, although admittedly not as much fun - I kept getting bogged down by reading the book (plodding through so much detailed evidence), and found it easier to get through on Audible.

One of the most fascinating, and important books, that I've read (/listened to) in a long time.

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Deeply Fascinating Better than Sapiens

Explains the synergistic effects of social learning and cumulative cultural evolution, and how they affect even our biological evolution. Fascinating evidence and explanations give you insight into the development of homo sapiens. The performance is excellent. In comparison to the acting performances needed for fiction, I just couldn't rate it on the same scale.

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