This is a WILD WITH SARAH WILSON conversation, investigating ideas and practices that can help build our new, life-generating future. We are in a liminal time, between an old world that is no longer holding and a new world - “the what comes next” - that’s yet to emerge. Now is the time to be imagining this future together. If this episode inspires you, please share it with loved ones.
Today’s guest, Michael Muthukrishna, is a behavioural scientist and cultural evolution researcher who has a unified “theory of everyone”. The bold theory posits that we evolved as a species - surviving crises and collapses via cooperative norms that ensured inequality did not blow out - in conditions of energy abundance.
In this episode, I ask how everyone – humanity – can survive this multi-crisis pile-up when energy is running out. The answer is…complex and, as I flag in the introduction, we do disagree on a few points. Which makes it an even more important discussion to listen to.
Got questions?
Michael and I will answer questions and respond to your feedback in the comments section. I really want this to be an “emergent” and shared conversation.
About Michael
Michael is Professor of Economic Psychology at New York University (NYU) and the London School of Economics, co-founder of London School of Artificial Intelligence (LSAI), technical director of The Database of Religious History and co-founder of the London School of Artificial Intelligence (LSAI).
He’s also the author of A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We Are Going.
Show notes
Get your copy of A Theory of Everyone: The New Science of Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We Are Going
Learn more about Michael’s work here.
You can catch up on my episode about Moloch that I mentioned: LIV BOEREE: Explaining Moloch, the mysterious game theory force breaking the world (plus a fix!)
And these episodes on how we’re fundamentally more cooperative than we tend to get told might be of interest, too.
ADAM MASTROIANNI: Do we need to make the world great (and kinder) again?
RUTGER BREGMAN: Author of Humankind on how to trust each other
Remember, you can now watch us live on YouTube!
Sarah xx
