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Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World
How our evolved psychology has shaped the past, present and future of humanity.
Each of us is endowed with an inheritance. A set of ancient biases, forged through countless millennia of natural and cultural selection, which shape every facet of our behaviour.
For generations, this inheritance has taken us to ever greater heights, driving the rise of more sophisticated technologies, more organized religions, more expansive empires. But now, for the first time, it is failing us. We find ourselves careering towards a future of unprecedented political polarization, deadlier wars, and environmental destruction.
In Inheritance, renowned anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse offers a sweeping account of how our evolved biases have shaped humanity’s past and imperil its future. Unveiling a pioneering new way of viewing our collective history � one that weaves together psychological experiments, on-the-ground fieldwork, and big data � Whitehouse introduces three biases that shape human behaviour conformism, religiosity, and tribalism.
These biases have catalysed the greatest transformations in human history, from the birth of agriculture and arrival of the first kings to the rise and fall of human sacrifice and creation of multiethnic empires. Yet today, they are driving us to ruin. Taking us deep into New Guinea tribes, Libyan militias, and predatory ad agencies, Whitehouse shows how the tools we once used to manage our biases are breaking down, with devastating implications for us all.
By uncovering how human nature has shaped our collective history, Inheritance reveals a surprising new path to solving our most urgent problems. The result is a powerful reappraisal of the human journey; one that transforms our understanding of who we are, and who we could be.
Each of us is endowed with an inheritance. A set of ancient biases, forged through countless millennia of natural and cultural selection, which shape every facet of our behaviour.
For generations, this inheritance has taken us to ever greater heights, driving the rise of more sophisticated technologies, more organized religions, more expansive empires. But now, for the first time, it is failing us. We find ourselves careering towards a future of unprecedented political polarization, deadlier wars, and environmental destruction.
In Inheritance, renowned anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse offers a sweeping account of how our evolved biases have shaped humanity’s past and imperil its future. Unveiling a pioneering new way of viewing our collective history � one that weaves together psychological experiments, on-the-ground fieldwork, and big data � Whitehouse introduces three biases that shape human behaviour conformism, religiosity, and tribalism.
These biases have catalysed the greatest transformations in human history, from the birth of agriculture and arrival of the first kings to the rise and fall of human sacrifice and creation of multiethnic empires. Yet today, they are driving us to ruin. Taking us deep into New Guinea tribes, Libyan militias, and predatory ad agencies, Whitehouse shows how the tools we once used to manage our biases are breaking down, with devastating implications for us all.
By uncovering how human nature has shaped our collective history, Inheritance reveals a surprising new path to solving our most urgent problems. The result is a powerful reappraisal of the human journey; one that transforms our understanding of who we are, and who we could be.
464 pages, Hardcover
Published June 13, 2024
56 people are currently reading
741 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 26, 2024
Anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse makes the case that the study of humans and human society must take into account both our biological and cultural nature. Using examples from many studies, his own as well as others, he describes how three fundamental propensities of humans constrain the variability of how we live:
1) Conformism, the tendency to copy one another even when the purpose of the behavior is obscure.
2) Religiosity, which Whitehouse views as an inescapable by-product of how our brains work, but which has also changed drastically over the millenia.
3) Tribalism, the tendency to classify persons as part or not part of our group. This has caused not only conflict between groups, but also facilitated peaceful cooperation.
He proposes a number of ideas for policies, some of which are worthy of discussion. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to give advice in the form of "this policy needs to be put into place", with rather weak discussions of how this could be done in a democratically feasible way. Although very interesting examples from history are given, their relevance to the current situation is not adequately discussed.
1) Conformism, the tendency to copy one another even when the purpose of the behavior is obscure.
2) Religiosity, which Whitehouse views as an inescapable by-product of how our brains work, but which has also changed drastically over the millenia.
3) Tribalism, the tendency to classify persons as part or not part of our group. This has caused not only conflict between groups, but also facilitated peaceful cooperation.
He proposes a number of ideas for policies, some of which are worthy of discussion. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to give advice in the form of "this policy needs to be put into place", with rather weak discussions of how this could be done in a democratically feasible way. Although very interesting examples from history are given, their relevance to the current situation is not adequately discussed.
January 2, 2025
The book explains everything really relevant to human existence as I see it. Some of the explanations are definitely still work-in-progress, and some may even fail. But this is a good basis.
It starts with how we became like this and continues with how we can solve our global and local problems based on that knowledge.
It does not only discuss the Darwinian biology of humanity but the evolution of cooperation through the evolution of more and more complex societies via cultural evolution - steps like tribes with sporadic initiation rituals and "wild" religions, big man societies, the inclusion of routinized rituals in the tool kit of societies, kingdoms with a strict hierarchy and routinized human sacrifice, inclusion of moralizing goods and giving up of human sacrifice. Role of fusion of "individuals" to something more.
The most radical hypothesis is to create a global tribe. And I mean really creating a hypothesis "global tribe with global rituals is possible and important for solving our problems" even without Martians attacking us. I am slightly skeptical but certainly reading his studies on it.
Quite radical is also the idea of integrating prisoners to society must include integration of them to some tribe outside the prison. Western societies are poor when it comes to tribes outside the family and criminal gangs but such tribes exist Liberal people may see football as a platform for hooliganism only but when it comes to integration of former prisoners foot ball clubs are doing a contribution. Let's see how it works.
It starts with how we became like this and continues with how we can solve our global and local problems based on that knowledge.
It does not only discuss the Darwinian biology of humanity but the evolution of cooperation through the evolution of more and more complex societies via cultural evolution - steps like tribes with sporadic initiation rituals and "wild" religions, big man societies, the inclusion of routinized rituals in the tool kit of societies, kingdoms with a strict hierarchy and routinized human sacrifice, inclusion of moralizing goods and giving up of human sacrifice. Role of fusion of "individuals" to something more.
The most radical hypothesis is to create a global tribe. And I mean really creating a hypothesis "global tribe with global rituals is possible and important for solving our problems" even without Martians attacking us. I am slightly skeptical but certainly reading his studies on it.
Quite radical is also the idea of integrating prisoners to society must include integration of them to some tribe outside the prison. Western societies are poor when it comes to tribes outside the family and criminal gangs but such tribes exist Liberal people may see football as a platform for hooliganism only but when it comes to integration of former prisoners foot ball clubs are doing a contribution. Let's see how it works.
December 22, 2024
For a few weeks, it helped me get to sleep.
March 16, 2025
An engaging and informative read. I normally take a fairly structured approach to reading non fiction - aiming to finish a chapter in a specified time period, but with this book found myself reading on beyond my planned chapter because I was caught up in the examples and explanations of how societies (or groups) work to build cohesion and a sense of self worth.
This is not a dry, academic work. I felt like I was in the midst of a conversation that invited me to question, try new perspectives, learn from other cultural perspectives and importantly showed that there is still the opportunity to tackle current problems by applying some of these different perspectives.
This is not a dry, academic work. I felt like I was in the midst of a conversation that invited me to question, try new perspectives, learn from other cultural perspectives and importantly showed that there is still the opportunity to tackle current problems by applying some of these different perspectives.
February 8, 2025
Whitehouse explains the three factors of human evolutionary bias: conformity, religiosity and tribalism and how they have shaped humanity to what it is today. He goes back to his experience with the Kivung tribe in Papua New Guinea and suggests that we can adopt a more ground-up approach to solving global problems together like climate change, while tapping into our shared humanity.
February 23, 2025
Filled with interesting studies and data driven observations demonstrating human biases and evolutionary based intuitive thinking that has shaped our species, culture, history, and future. Can we harness these beliefs and behaviors to nudge humanity toward better, desired outcomes or will we succumb to age old prejudices and us vs them tribalism? Our success as a species depends on the answer.
March 3, 2025
Kinda boring at times, but definitely some interesting points and loved the emphasis on importance of climate change. Interesting take on how using routine/cultural routine aspects can impact climate change.
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July 21, 2024-------------------------------
- Someone from the EV group
- Someone from the EV group
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