Summary of Joseph Henrich's The Secret of Our Success

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Our species, the Homo sapiens, is a peculiar primate. We are physically weak, slow, and not particularly good at climbing trees. Yet, we are surprisingly good at long-distance running and fast, accurate throwing.

#2 We are a cultural species. We have acquired many practices, techniques, tools, motivations, values, and beliefs while growing up, mostly by learning from others. Our species’ success lies not in our raw innate intelligence, but in our ability to survive and thrive as hunter-gatherers across an immense range of global environments because we have learned how to culture.

#3 We are a cultural species, and our capacities for learning from others are products of natural selection. We are adaptive learners who, even as infants, carefully select when, what, and from whom to learn. We rely on the products of cultural evolution for our survival.

#4 The process of self-domestication involved the creation of social norms that influence a wide variety of human action. Norms affect everything from ancient and fundamental matters such as kin relations and mating to more modern matters such as food sharing and reciprocity.

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Release date

Ebook: 2 May 2022