Inheritance

The ancient inheritance that made us who we are. The ancient inheritance that is now driving us to ruin. Each of us is endowed with an inheritance - a set of evolved biases and cultural tools that shape every facet of our behavior. For countless generations, this inheritance has taken us to ever greater heights, driving the rise of more sophisticated technologies, more organised religions, more expansive empires. But now, for the first time, it is failing us. We find ourselves careering toward a future of unprecedented political polarisation, deadlier wars and environmental destruction. In Inheritance, renowned anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse offers a sweeping account of how our evolved biases have shaped humanity's past and imperil its future. Unveiling a pioneering new way of viewing our collective history - one that weaves together psychological experiments, on-the-ground fieldwork and big data - Harvey Whitehouse introduces three biases that shape human behaviour everywhere: confo