The evolutionary origins of a good society with Nicholas A. Christakis

Science and Cocktails is proud to present an episode with sociologist superstar and professor at Yale University, author of many books including "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society", Nicholas Christakis who will explain the evolution of our society grounded in the good and the bad originating in our biological heritage. Why are societies similar worldwide? What is the effect of our biological characteristics in shaping society? Why did evolution set us on a more humane path? Scientists and citizens often focus on the dark side of our biological heritage—on our capacity for aggression, cruelty, prejudice, mendacity, and self-interest. But natural selection has also given us a suite of beneficial social features, including our capacity for love, friendship, cooperation, and teaching. Beneath all our inventions—our tools, farms, machines, cities, nations—we carry with us innate proclivities to make such a good society. Indeed, our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, therefore resulting in societies that are surprisingly similar worldwide. Using many, wide ranging examples—including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, village settings throughout the world, online groups of people and artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own— Nicholas Christakis will show that, despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness. In a world of increasing political and economic polarization, it’s tempting to ignore the positive role of our evolutionary past. But Nicholas shows how and why evolution has placed us on a humane path—and how we are united by our common humanity. Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is a social scientist and physician at Yale University who conducts research in network science, biosocial science, and various other fields. His current work focuses on how human biology and health affect, and are affected by, social interactions and social networks. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science, appointed in the Departments of Sociology; Statistics and Data Science; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Biomedical Engineering; Medicine; and the School of Management. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017; and the National Academy of Sciences in 2024. Dr. Christakis is the author of over 220 articles and several books. His influential 2009 book, Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, documented how social networks affect our lives and was translated into twenty foreign languages. His 2019 book, Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, was a New York Times bestseller and was translated into over ten foreign languages.In 2009, Christakis was named by Time magazine to their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009 and in 2010, he was listed by Foreign Policy magazine in their annual list of Top 100 Global Thinkers. For more science visit: • Website: https://www.scienceandcocktails.org • LinkedIn: LinkedIn: science-&-cocktails • Facebook: Facebook: scienceandcocktailscph • Youtube: sciencecocktails • Instagram: Instagram: scienceandcocktailsglobal