How War Shaped Human Evolution - David Geary - #1172

Modern Wisdom | 05.11.2026 08:00

Dr David Geary is an evolutionary psychologist, cognitive scientist, professor at the University of Missouri, and author.

Expect to learn the disturbing reasons why humans are so intelligent, why men are obsessed with status, money, and power, the biggest differences between male and female competition, why human progress comes at the cost of bloody battles and war, why violence is an inevitability of man, and much more…

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Timestamps:

(00:00) What Makes the Human Mind So Unique?

(08:58) Where Did All the Men Go 7,000 Years Ago?

(16:45) How Evolution Shaped Male and Female Reproductive Competition

(18:47) Is Male Ambition Driven by Reproductive Competition?

(21:11) Why Men and Women Compete Differently

(26:31) Did War Help Build Civilisation?

(29:38) How Civility Keeps Humanity From Chaos

(31:42) Why Humans Evolved to Imagine the Future

(37:40) Does Thinking About the Future Make Us Miserable?

(40:37) What Makes Human Babies So Unusual?

(43:49) The Modern Behaviours Only Evolution Can Explain

(49:05) Why Humans Crave Control

(53:20) Will We Ever Be Satisfied With the Control We Have?

(59:21) Would Modern Success Attributes Make Us Successful in the Past?

(01:06:05) The Most Important Principle for a Better Life

(01:08:21) Where to Find David

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