Dr. Bill von Hippel

Now, admittedly, we did our share of infanticide too, but mostly what we do is cooperate, work together, have division of labor, and we go from being this, like, you know, when we first left the trees, it must have been really rough. Everybody was eating us for dinner, and now it's the shoes and the other foot. We're the apex predator on this planet.

Now, admittedly, we did our share of infanticide too, but mostly what we do is cooperate, work together, have division of labor, and we go from being this, like, you know, when we first left the trees, it must have been really rough. Everybody was eating us for dinner, and now it's the shoes and the other foot. We're the apex predator on this planet.

Yeah, we do. Look, there's never something that's done just for the niceness of it. Evolution doesn't care about nice at all. What's really nice, though, is that our solution, our way of becoming deadly, and every animal that survives becomes deadly or avoids being eaten in another way.

Yeah, we do. Look, there's never something that's done just for the niceness of it. Evolution doesn't care about nice at all. What's really nice, though, is that our solution, our way of becoming deadly, and every animal that survives becomes deadly or avoids being eaten in another way.

Now, it turns out that once you band together, and even by Homo erectus, so our ancestors one and two million years ago, when they band together, they are already the deadliest force on this planet. We've got good evidence that they're eating huge animals like mammoths. So it's your ability to have division of labor to plan, to say, all right, you chase that mammoth and we'll –

Now, it turns out that once you band together, and even by Homo erectus, so our ancestors one and two million years ago, when they band together, they are already the deadliest force on this planet. We've got good evidence that they're eating huge animals like mammoths. So it's your ability to have division of labor to plan, to say, all right, you chase that mammoth and we'll –

put this trap here, you know, do things that other animals simply can't. They can't do that. They can't make a scenario in their mind and then enact it. And so it was that mental ability that turned us into these apex predators.

put this trap here, you know, do things that other animals simply can't. They can't do that. They can't make a scenario in their mind and then enact it. And so it was that mental ability that turned us into these apex predators.

But it doesn't take long as an apex predator who can work together with division of labor to realize, all right, there's only one predator left on this planet who has a chance of killing me, and that's other humans, or if, you know, if it's pre-human, other Homo erectus.

But it doesn't take long as an apex predator who can work together with division of labor to realize, all right, there's only one predator left on this planet who has a chance of killing me, and that's other humans, or if, you know, if it's pre-human, other Homo erectus.

Yeah, so remember I referred to us earlier as being tribal. And I talked about how chimpanzees are 600 times more aggressive within the group but equally aggressive between. So we've evolved in a world to be totally tribal, to just look out for ourselves because that other group might kill us. They may be nice, we may get along, but they might be vicious.

Yeah, so remember I referred to us earlier as being tribal. And I talked about how chimpanzees are 600 times more aggressive within the group but equally aggressive between. So we've evolved in a world to be totally tribal, to just look out for ourselves because that other group might kill us. They may be nice, we may get along, but they might be vicious.

And so we need to be prepared to be vicious in return. Thankfully, though, we didn't evolve where we know where they're vicious. We evolved where we just don't know. It may be good and it may be bad. So we give out groups the benefit of the doubt, but we very quickly become tribal and negative toward them.

And so we need to be prepared to be vicious in return. Thankfully, though, we didn't evolve where we know where they're vicious. We evolved where we just don't know. It may be good and it may be bad. So we give out groups the benefit of the doubt, but we very quickly become tribal and negative toward them.

So, evolution doesn't care about morality, right? It's amoral. It's not immoral, it just doesn't care. And what that means is might is right. Humans are the only ones who understand possession. And I say, this is mine. And you're like, no, no, it's mine. And we can argue about the actual ownership of it. But for an animal, there's never an argument.

So, evolution doesn't care about morality, right? It's amoral. It's not immoral, it just doesn't care. And what that means is might is right. Humans are the only ones who understand possession. And I say, this is mine. And you're like, no, no, it's mine. And we can argue about the actual ownership of it. But for an animal, there's never an argument.

If you made the kill and I'm bigger than you, I take it from you. Now, in human groups, power is achieved by no human is strong enough on their own to have power by themselves. Every human goes to sleep. And when you go to sleep, the weakest of humans in your group can kill you easily.

If you made the kill and I'm bigger than you, I take it from you. Now, in human groups, power is achieved by no human is strong enough on their own to have power by themselves. Every human goes to sleep. And when you go to sleep, the weakest of humans in your group can kill you easily.

And so to be powerful, part of it is to be tough and scary, but part of it also to be kind and to look out for people who are on your side so that you have a network of people who care about you.

And so to be powerful, part of it is to be tough and scary, but part of it also to be kind and to look out for people who are on your side so that you have a network of people who care about you.