Hutchinson Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World

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Inheritance is original, eye-opening as well as highly entertaining. It is a perfect mix of vivid story-telling and in-depth analysis. Harvey Whitehouse draws on several decades of exciting fieldwork in different parts of the world and makes the reader feel as if they are sitting right next to him observing indigenous cultures in Papua New Guinea, frontline revolutionaries in Libya and violent football hooligans in Brazil. The book presents many findings that are truly mind-blowing and explain some of human beings' most puzzling behaviours: For example, why do we copy pointless behaviour from an early age? Or why do people choose to put their own life and limb at risk to fight for their in-groups? Whitehouse convincingly argues that three evolved human biases - conformism, religiosity and tribalism - have shaped human history and are responsible for some of today's most pressing problems such as the climate crisis and global conflict. Luckily, the book also provides a roadmap for how these biases could be harnessed in innovative and sometimes surprising ways to foster the global cohesion and human cooperation needed to tackle these same challenges.

This is a well structured description of our world and how man is struggling to control it. There are solutions and I can only hope sufficient leaders can see the value of Prof Whitehouse's extensive research.