The Ape that Understood the Universe

"The Ape That Understood the Universe" by Steve Stewart-Williams is an enthralling introduction to the captivating world of evolutionary psychology. Stewart-Williams skillfully navigates through the intricacies of the human mind and culture, unraveling the mysteries of our cognitive evolution. This book is a compelling exploration that seamlessly weaves together scientific rigor and accessibility. Stewart-Williams has a remarkable talent for making complex topics engaging and comprehensible, even for those new to the field. The journey into evolutionary psychology is not just educational but also deeply thought-provoking, providing a lens through which to understand the origins of our behaviors and thought patterns. What sets this book apart is its ability to spark curiosity. It goes beyond presenting facts and theories; it invites readers to contemplate the profound implications of our evolutionary past on the present. The author's enthusiasm for the subject is contagious, making the book a joy to read. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast of evolutionary psychology or a newcomer curious about the mysteries of the human mind, "The Ape That Understood the Universe" is a must-read. It not only broadens your intellectual horizons but also leaves you with a newfound appreciation for the intricacies of our evolutionary journey.

This book is a very easy read. If you’re a laymen such as I, you’ll have no difficulty grasping the concepts Dr. Stewart-Williams introduces. Evolutionary psychology appears to be the original and science based gender studies. It explains why males and females act the way we do. It is the firewall against the loud post-modern campus cult of grievance studies culture. By incorporating natural observations cross-culturally and across the species, this discipline’s theories are hard to refute on a number of subjects related to what it is to be human. Dr. Stewart-Williams novel way of giving us a bird’s eye view of ourselves is entertaining and his simple language and interesting examples held my attention. I had several “eureka” moments reading this book and I highly recommend it.

The Ape That Understood The Universe, How the mind and culture evolve Steve Stewart-Williams, 2018 What would happen if an alien scientist came from another planet and decided to study the behavior of the prominent earthly species; humans? That is the premise of Williams book; To look at human behavior apart from cultural bias and determine how this “collection of atoms”, “this vast colony of single-celled organisms” known as a human being came to evolve and how did these beings come to form huge organized competing groups or tribes that have come to dominate this small rocky planet? No surprise that the Alien’s conclusions would mirror some of Darwin’s evolutionary conclusions and also those of Richard Dawkins theories of selfish-genes and of the evolution of cultural memes. “A chicken is an egg’s way of making another egg” This is in essence explains the gene’s view of evolution which is that reproduction is the only thing that matters in the competition of what genetic behaviors and traits will reproduce and predominate over the long run. From this premise one can surmise that in evolutionary psychology innate reproductive behavior is extremely determinate. Because of sexual differences in reproductive potential and parental investment, male and female reproductive strategies differ. In choosing mates women seek not only fitness but also resources, status and committed parental investment. Males in contrast can maximize reproductive success by not only acquiring wealth and status to attract females but also by seeking multiple mating opportunities without parental investment. This subject along with sexual dimorphism, polygyny, kin bias, the Cinderella syndrome, altruism are all explained in the context of why they exist and are evolutionarily favored behaviors. The most interesting part of the book from my perspective was the section on cultural memes and how cultures evolve along the same principles as biologic evolution. A meme is an idea or unit of culture that can reproduce itself inside multiple human brains. “The core idea of memetics is that, like genes, memes are subject to natural selection, and that selection favors “selfish” -memes that, through accident or design, are good at getting themselves replicated and keeping themselves in circulation in the culture. This applies not only to chain letters and hoax virus warnings, but right across the board”. Language, for example, is also a meme and “Dominant languages and dialects spread widely, and lead to the gradual extinction of other tongues… A struggle for life is constantly going on amongst the words and grammatical forms in each language. The better, the shorter, the easier forms are constantly gaining the upper hand, and they owe their success to their own inherent virtue”. Science is another cultural meme that is also subject to the laws of evolution. “Science involves the two key elements of Darwinian evolution; variation and selection”. “In effect, the scientific method establishes a struggle for existence among theories, which ultimately in the survival of the fittest theories: those that best explain the facts”. The power of cultural evolution in effect explains human dominance of the planet. “Our superpower as a species is not our intelligence: It’s our collective intelligence and capacity for cumulative culture; our ability to stockpile knowledge and pass it down from generation to generation, tinkering with it and improving it over time. Biological evolution can give rise to the eye, but cumulative cultural evolution can give rise to entities every bit as complex as the eye; airplanes, smart phones, legal systems and the internet”. Unfortunately, all memes are not true or beneficial to humans or human societies. The author explains how religions, while fostering societal cohesion and cooperation, can also become parasitic to a society, sucking off resources to build huge cathedrals and supporting non- productive activities as well as fostering sometimes disastrous interreligious conflicts. The internet has facilitated a way for memes that appeal to the human base emotions such as fear, anger, resentment and shock to proliferate across the globe at the speed of light with consequences to societal political and social order still not totally understood. Cultural evolution can also change biological evolution. The acquisition of lactose tolerance in herding pastoral societies is cited as one example. A possible consequence of birth control technology could be the gradual extinction of deceptive promiscuous behavior as it would become a nonviable reproductive strategy. This is a great summary of what this book is about: “Like every aspect of human nature, our knack for culture evolved initially as a gene copying strategy – unlike any other gene copying strategy – our culture opened up an entirely new arena for evolution by natural selection. It brought into existence a new replicator: the meme. And memes had a very different agenda than the genes that made them possible. As memetic evolution picked up steam, humans were transformed. No longer we were devices designed solely to pass on our genes. Suddenly, we became hybrid creatures, torn between passing on our genes and passing on our memes. This vision of our species helps to explain much of what most puzzled the alien scientist: our religions, our art, music and science. Cultural evolution is the key to unraveling the deepest mysteries of the human mind”. “What’s next? What does the future hold for the gene-meme hybrids we call human beings? Will we escape the earth and colonize other worlds, or will we drive ourselves to extinction? Will we engineer ourselves into a species of Einsteins, or will our intellectual faculties deteriorate, like our ability to make vitamin A? Will we cast off our superstitions by exposing them to rational scrutiny, or will our superstitions evolve into more virulent forms like bacteria in response to antibiotics? Will we tame our inner demons – our tendency to scapegoat, our proneness to moral panics – or will we just keep swapping one fashionable prejudice and mass delusion for another until the end of time”? “The evolution of culture has been the ultimate game changer for our species. It has enabled us to understand ourselves and the world to a degree far beyond what a neutral observer couid reasonably expect of an ape. It has allowed us to start reshaping the world in accordance with our wishes and whims. And it has begun to entrust us with the power to direct our own evolution but the evolution of all other life on this planet. This is an awesome responsibility, and one we may or may not be fit to carry. Whether we like it or not, though, our evolving culture is pushing our species ever-more firmly into the driver’s seat of our planet Earth as a whole. For better or for worse – perhaps for better and for worse - this appears to be the destiny of the strangest animal in the world: the ape that understood the universe”. This is a great readable compendium of evolutionary psychology and cultural evolution. If you’re not familiar with these subjects you will get a new perspective on human behavior, possibly your own, and an understanding of political and social behavior including those of a certain orange politician and his accolades.

Must read for anyone interested in the interaction between sociologists and evolutionary psychologists. Also, this is an interesting book in the general area of alignment between AI tools and societal values.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to be introduced or reminded of how the far-reaching modern explanatory power of natural selection, evolutionary psychology, and memetics inform our understanding of ourselves and our culture. More accessible than its small font might imply, more rigorous and meticulously referenced than a superficial overview. Peppered by humor and well chosen quotations, this would be a great book for an intellectually curious young adult looking for a masterful modern summary of how the more narrowly-focused ideas they've learned in the classroom - genetics, evolution, anthropology - inform the vast understanding of human nature and culture.

Considering the complexity of the subject it was beautifully organized. The writer is obviously a very effective teacher, who is not afraid to use humor judiciously sprinkled throughout the book to make his points. . Has many references to other scientists in related fields. I highly recommend this book even though it may be slow going at times, but worth the effort. The best exposition of memetics I've read so far.

I came across this book while listening to an episode of Chris Williamson on Youtube. He praised it, and after reading it, I agree with him. This book is informative, easy to understand, engaging, and at time unexpectedly clever. The author will certainly “force” you to think about a subject, or at least force you to take some time to do so, and will do so while explaining how humans behave, and why we should not only rely on popular explanations about our behaviour that rely only on cultural factors. Much like others before him, he argues that genes play a role, an important role, in how we behave. Although my biggest criticism may be that the author sometimes doesn’t go into the hard data, such as how much the difference between A and B be, the amount of references he provides makes up for it. What I mean to say is that this book does a very good work at introducing concepts and ideas, and points you to where you might learn more. Another thing that is very much appreciated how neutral it is. Although he dismissed some arguments made by the people who may criticise his ideas, he does so while also giving them a fair treatment, or at least engages them. The appendix, while not the definitive answer, does provide some insights about the criticisms levied at evolutionary psychology, and provides ways in which we can approach the subject with those may disagree with us.

Je n'ai pas appris énormément de nouvelles choses en lisant ce livre, mais quel plaisir de lire une défense si claire, si bien argumentée et si synthétique de cette discipline passionnante qu'est la psychologie évolutionniste. Si vous voulez comprendre la nature humaine de manière profonde, je n'ai pas de meilleurs recommandations. Le livre se finit avec une introduction aux théories de l'évolution culturelle, indispensables compléments à la psychologie évolutionniste pour comprendre la bête humaine dans toute sa profondeur. Les critiques les plus courantes adressées à ces disciplines sont remarquablement bien traitées lors des deux appendices de fin de livre. Mon seul petit regret : je trouve que le thème de la religion est un peu superficiellement traitée, avec notamment aucune mention aux travaux de Pascal Boyer ou Justin Barrett et de la théorie de l'Hyperactive Agency Detection Device.

A thoughtful and interesting read

I was listening to @chriswillx podcast where he mentions this book multiple times. I’ve always been fascinated with the subject of evolutionary psychology so I decided to read it and it honestly blew my mind. As Chris says, “As far as I’m concerned, evolutionary psychology is the closest you’re ever going to get at peering under the hood of your own behaviour and discovering why you do the things you do.” This book is a glorious introduction to the world of evolutionary psychology. Witty, jaw dropping insights that will make you see the world through a new lens.

Although, the last chapter of the book, dealing with memes, culture and interplay between genetics and culture is interesting, it is weaker in rigour than the earlier chapters. Generally, this is a fascinating topic and the author explains quite a lot very clearly and well. There will be people who want to deny or misconstrue evolutionary influence on our cognition but the evidence that it does is overwhelming. This book explains a great many of our natural predispositions and understanding them well is something we should strive for, not just for interest, but because it’s hard to do good if you expect impractical or overly optimistic behaviours. S.S-W points us in the right direction with solid reasoning and good science.