Our Story

The story of human evolution, or Our Story, is about the development and refinement of cultures. Individuals cannot do things on their own, this book argues; their choices are driven by heuristics, biases, illogical preferences, and irrational assumptions about the nature of reality. So how did humanity survive? By forming more and more successful cultures, which are teams of people who share a specific vision of the world. Because cultures-as-teams are more effective if there is a strong correspondence among the members, they select individuals who clarify the team's vision and force compliance to that vision. Thus, cultures-as-teams are powerful agents for change in the world. They offer the individual the opportunity to accomplish unimaginable goals, but they can also destroy him or her in the process.

W Penn Handwerker

Chapter 1 Introduction Still Looking After All These Years ~ 150 Years! Drives You Crazy; Part I On Cultures; Chapter 1a Cultures Originate in Intelligent Minds; Chapter 2 Cultures Establish Moral Orders; Chapter 3 Morally Ordered Behavior Gives Cultures Agency; Chapter 4 Living Requires Many Cultures, Thriving Requires They Be Well-Designed; Part II On the Properties of mind that Produce Agency; Chapter 5 Coercive Force Yields Morally Ordered Behavior; Chapter 6 Cognitive Coercion May Kill You Before You Get Anywhere; Chapter 7 Intelligence Makes for Disturbing Irony; Chapter 9 Lessons Learned Cultures Aren't Merely Curiosities, and How 'oeOthers' Think and Act;