The relationship between language, thought and culture is of concern to anyone with an interest in what it means to be human.
The Language Puzzle by Steven Mithen explains how the invention of words at 1.6 million years ago began the evolution of human language from the ape-like calls of our earliest ancestors to our capabilities of today, with over 6000 languages in the world and each of us knowing over 50,000 words.
Out of interest in correctness, Sam investigates cultural ideas across other books from Richard Wrangham, Christopher Boem and Yuval Noah Harari to create this tour de force episode on what the hell was going on.
Drawing on the latest discoveries in archaeology, linguistics, psychology, and genetics, this episode reconstructs the steps by which language evolved; how it transformed the nature of thought and culture, and how we talked our way out of the Stone Age into the world of farming and swiftly into today's Digital Age.
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About Wiser Pod
Nico and Sam set out to read the world's best books, from philosophy to sci-fi, economics to who knows what.
Sam Webster Harris
👋 LinkedIn - Sam Harris
🧠 Psychology Pod - Growth Mindset Psychology
🚀 New Pod - How to Change the World
Nicolas Vereecke
👋 LinkedIn - Nico Vereecke
🤖 AI world domination - Evil Plan Inc
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How to Change the World: The History and Future of Innovation
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Little Miracles and Airplanes
02:26 Wiser pod Introduction
03:32 Framing the Four-Part Journey
05:49 The Compression Problem
09:30 Act 1 – Cognitive Basis of Language
09:30 Biological History of Languages
14:27 The Interconnected Brain
18:03 Complex Words and Abstract Ideas
21:50 Ad Break
22:13 Words, Planning, and Teamwork
23:10 Act 2 – Gossip, Myths & Religion
23:10 Gossip and the Glue of Society
26:48 Myths and Shared Delusions
31:42 Early Religions, Animism and Cave Art
34:39 Act 3 – Self-Domestication
34:45 Shame, Blushing, and Human Civility
38:10 Invitation to Continue on How to Change the World
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