Our Lives Matter S1E34: Racism and Evolution

07/18/24 • 25 min

Our species originated in Africa. At the time, there was no way for our ancestors to evolve a dislike for people from other continents, because there were no people from other continents. Racism is xenophobia connected to physical features of people from different continents. Imperialism and colonialism depended on the colonial governments writing different laws for different groups of people, which gave the colonizers the right to take land and resources from the people they were colonizing. Slavery was another way that laws gave different groups of people different sets of rights. Those different sets of laws created different...

Previous Episode

Our Lives Matter S1E33: Human Universals

Anthropology is the study of differences and similarities among cultures. That means that similarities that all cultures share give us valuable clues to mental traits of our species. That gives us valuable clues to the brain structure of our species. At the same time, this paints a vivid picture of the diversity of humanity. Most of these universals are ways that people all over the world have thought of the same ideas, but found different ways to use them. If you’re looking for things you have in common with other people, you have a lot to choose from. ...

Next Episode

Our Lives Matter S1E35: The Biology of Gender Differences

Men and women reproduce differently. That’s why we have different reproduction organs. That also means we have different reproductive instincts for the best ways to reproduce. The differences in how men and women think start with the differences in our reproductive instincts. This isn’t a question of whether men are smarter than women, or vice versa. We’re each better than the other at some things, because our mental abilities are better adapted for doing the kinds of things that help us reproduce. ACT I Scene 1 [105 bpm] People always use their abilities and ideas in their environments...