In the final episode of season 1, Ilari addresses one of the underlying themes in many of the season's episodes: Darwinism. Is Darwinism dangerous? Is Darwinism linked to vicious ideologies? Does Darwinism prove that we are all selfish? These questions have been addressed in many of this season's episodes (most notably episodes 1 and 2, but also 6, 8, and 11). In this short solo episode, Ilari connects some dots by reading his essay Distorting Darwinism , published in the Skeptic Magazine. Topic...
Apr 08, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 20
The idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) is simple: Everyone should have an income. And that they should have it whether they work or not. Indeed, its simplicity has made UBI an attractive policy suggestion for many on both the left and the right. But sometimes the practical virtues of UBI can distract us from the deeper significance of this idea. Karl Widerquist is an economist and political philosopher who has campaigned for UBI since the 90s. And he thinks that it is a practical idea. But he ...
Mar 26, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Most histories of the 20th century focus on world wars and ideological conflicts. Others focus on the fall of European empires. Yet others focus on the slow but inevitable progress of social justice movements. Important themes. But according to Brad DeLong, the real story of “the long 20th century” (1870-2010) is an economic story. It is the story of how humanity, for the first time in its existence, was able to generate prosperity for the masses–so much so that it became technically possible to...
Mar 12, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Our mental lives are full of purpose and feeling. Yet the world is governed by laws of physics which seem to lack a sense of either purpose or feeling. So how do we explain consciousness in terms of matter? The problem of consciousness is at the forefront of many dialogues between philosophy and science. So how deep is it? Dr Bernardo Kastrup argues that it is very deep indeed. Or rather, it is a pseudo-problem that arises from us attacking it incorrectly. Kastrup's argument is as surprising as ...
Feb 26, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Social science paints a bleak picture of unprivileged life. Poverty is certainly treated as a social problem - as a harsh condition to live in. But it is also painted as a condition which blunts humanity's capacity for altruism and virtue. Jacqueline Mattis is a psychologist who has studied altruism and prosociality in deeply deprived areas, such as majority African-American inner-city housing projects. Her work demonstrates that altruism does not vanish amongst those who struggle for survival. ...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Why do we care about equality? Is it an invention of the European Enlightenment? Or is it something rooted in human nature? If so, why does equality require constant fighting for? Elizabeth Anderson is a philosopher at the University of Michigan. She is one of the essential egalitarian theorists of our times. Her essay What's the Point of Equality is one of the must-reads of the contemporary philosophy of political equality. And her recent essay on the history of equality and social justice is a...
Feb 04, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 1Ep. 15
What was life like before agriculture? Was it "nasty, brutish, and short?" Or was it quite peaceful and relaxing, making agriculture the "worst mistake in human history" ? There are plenty of theories about our ancestral lives. And these are not just neutral hypotheses about a past epoch. They are often used as an origin story of our species. They shape the way we think of ourselves, our natural inclinations, and the virtues or vices of civilisation. But how can we go beyond origin myths? Is the...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Wealth on planet Earth is not evenly distributed. Indeed, our country of birth predicts a huge amount of our access to food and technology. Although such differences have always existed, they have become dramatically accentuated in the past two centuries. During the early 1800s, the average income of a person living in the richest region of the world was 3 times higher than that of a person living in the poorest region. Today, it is 15 times, or even 100 times higher.* To understand the human co...
Jan 14, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 15
If you take a moment to reflect on the economic condition of our species, you are likely to be puzzled over two mysteries. One is the mystery of wealth: How is it that humanity has been able to generate such a dramatic increase in wealth (e.g. in access to food, transportation, and medical technology)? The other is the mystery of inequality: Why is this wealth so unevenly distributed? Why are certain countries able to offer historically unprecedented standards of wealth to the majority of their ...
Jan 04, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Ilari is taking some time off for Christmas and New Year. Instead of new episodes, this holiday season features some highlights from this fall's conversations. This highlight revisits episode 1, where Ilari and Patricia Churchland discuss free will and neurophilosophy. For links and references, see the original episode.
Jan 01, 2023•17 min
Ilari is taking some time off for Christmas and New Year. Instead of new episodes, this holiday season features some highlights from this fall's conversations. This highlight revisits episode 3, where Ruth Feldman explores the tricky relationship between the neurobiology of love and xenophobia. The discussion also touches upon early attachment as a source of our capacity to bond with others. This discussion includes studies on building relationships between Israeli and Palestinian youth, as well...
Dec 29, 2022•18 min
Ilari is taking some time off for Christmas and New Year. Instead of new episodes, this holiday season features some highlights from this fall's conversations. This highlight revisits episode 2, where Philip Kitcher explores the relationship between secular humanism and religion. For links and references, see the original episode.
Dec 27, 2022•16 min
Why do we love? And how much does our culture shape the way we do so? In this episode, Ilari talks with Helen Fisher about the powers that drive and shape our romantic relationships. Ilari and Professor Fisher discuss: Is romantic love a modern invention? Is monogamy a social invention? Do men care more about sex? Do women care more about romance? Why agriculture, especially with the plough, caused havoc in romantic relationships. Why divorces might be on the decline. A science-based guide for m...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode, a philosopher of science from Cambridge offers us a cautiously optimistic guide to the science of happiness. Dr Anna Alexandrova, the author of A Philosophy for the Science of Well-being , and Ilari discuss questions such as: What do happiness questionnaires measure? Are rich countries happier than poorer ones? Should the science of happiness measure concepts such as “flourishing”? Or focus on simple questions like “how satisfied are you with your life”? Why psychologists and ec...
Dec 10, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 12
What is it like to be a non-human animal? Can neuroscience tell us the answer? In one of the most famous philosophy essays of the 20th century , Thomas Nagel suggested that we can never use science to know what it is like to be another animal, say, a bat. Neuroscience can describe bat physiology. But it can never tell us “what it is like to be a bat”. Gregory Berns is an animal neuroscientist. As you might guess, he disagrees with Nagel. Berns is a pioneer in using fMRI scanning on dogs (who in ...
Dec 03, 2022•41 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Thomas Hobbes famously wrote that life in the state of nature was “nasty, brutish, and short”. Recently, various scholars have claimed that Hobbes was basically right: our ancestors lived in a state of constant raiding and chronic warfare. Indeed, some have suggested that as many as 15% of ancestral humans died due to war. And the claims are made with the utmost confidence. But there is something disturbing about this confidence. The earliest archaeological records of war are only c. 14 000 year...
Nov 19, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 10
We often treat love as a single emotion. But simple questions like “how much do you love me?” can be misleading. Love is not a single dimension. It is a multitude. To really understand romantic bonds, a more nuanced vocabulary is needed. Robert Sternberg is famous for creating such vocabulary. Sternberg is a professor at Cornell University, where he teaches legendary classes on topics like intelligence (beyond IQ), wisdom, creativity, and of course, love and hate. But he is more than your averag...
Nov 12, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Humans live long, much longer than any of our closest relatives. For human females, this means living a large part of adulthood without being able to produce new offspring. This is an evolutionary puzzle. Indeed, menopause is exceedingly rare in the animal kingdom, typical only in humans and some species of whales. Kristen Hawkes has a theory to explain this puzzle. Hawkes is an evolutionary anthropologist, best known for her pioneering role around the so-called “grandmother hypothesis”. In this...
Nov 05, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Why do conspiracy theories seduce the minds of so many? Michael Shermer is a historian of science, best-selling author, founder of the Skeptic Society, and the host of a popular science podcast, Michael Shermer Show . His most recent book, Conspiracy , explores the causes and consequences of human gullibility regarding conspiracies. Ilari and Dr Shermer discuss the psychological reasons behind conspiracy theories, and what to do about them. This discussion touches upon topics from QAnon to flat ...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 6
We like to box things into neat categories. We like to box ourselves into a ‘Self’, a ‘Me’, an independent ‘Soul’, caged away from the rest of the world by the bags of our skin. When something goes wrong in our mental health, we like to box the issue into neat buckets of mental health disorders and search for an answer from within this individuated cage. On the other hand, we like to think of the ‘Self’ as a solid, unified, and permanent ‘Me’, making any fundamental change to ourselves difficult...
Oct 18, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Can biology expand our appreciation of love? What is the relationship between jazz and neuroscience? What does it mean to be in "synch" with someone? Ruth Feldman is a professor of neuroscience at Reichman University, Israel, with a joint appointment at the Yale Child Story Centre. A jazz musician before being a neuroscientist, Feldman combines musical ideas of synchrony into her research on the neurobiology of attachment, bonding, and love. Ilari and professor Feldman discuss topics such as: Wh...
Oct 13, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Is there a tension between biology and philosophy? Why should Homo sapiens care about ethics? What, if anything, does evolution tell us about human nature? To discuss these topics, Philip Kitcher joins your host, Ilari Mäkelä. Philip Kitcher is an emeritus professor of philosophy at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books, such as Living With Darwin and The Ethical Project. Ilari and professor Kitcher discuss topics such as: 01.35: Kitcher's theory of morality as a social technol...
Oct 08, 2022•59 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Why do we care for others? Why did morality evolve? Is unselfish behaviour possible in a Darwinian world? Patricia Churchland joins to discuss these topics with your host, Ilari Mäkelä. Author of Conscience: Origins of Moral Intuition, Patricia Churchland is an emerita professor of Philosophy at UC San Diego. Ilari and Professor Churchland discuss topics such as: Warm-bloodedness and morality Psychological egoism vs unselfish behaviour Neurobiology of care: Oxytocin, cannabinoids, opioids Elemen...
Oct 01, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 1
This is the On Humans Podcast, with your host, Ilari Mäkelä. The On Humans Podcast will feature in-depth conversations about the science and philosophy of what it means to be human. Where do we come from? What are we seeking for? Why do we love? Why do we destroy? Deep-dives with leading academics, we'll explore these and other questions by focusing on disciplines from the science of happiness, to the psychology of love, and from the anthropology of war to the evolution of morality. Subscribe. S...
Sep 26, 2022•1 min
