If you want to change the world, you need to dissect the past to build a blueprint for tomorrow.
Follow the epic journey through the history of invention, science and technology - told in chronological order.
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Long before the rise of Empires,
before the invention of the written word
and before humans ever tamed fire.
Curiosity was shaping the fate of our species.
This podcast breaks down the messy, complicated, often accidental ways humanity pushes forward—and shows you exactly how you can do the same.
This isn’t surface-level history.
Starting at the dawn of civilisation, we trace the thread of human innovation in the order it happened. Covering the stories of the world's greatest inventors and most powerful ideas.
Each episode is a masterclass - with all the nerdy details and side-quests that matter across science, economics, psychology and more:
Studying the patterns of history and invention shows how every world-changing idea is but a conversation between what has been and what could be.
Journey with us as we untangle the playbooks of the disruptors who change things here on earth and beyond.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you want to change the world, you need to dissect the past to build a blueprint for tomorrow.
Follow the epic journey through the history of invention, science and technology - told in chronological order.
---
Long before the rise of Empires,
before the invention of the written word
and before humans ever tamed fire.
Curiosity was shaping the fate of our species.
This podcast breaks down the messy, complicated, often accidental ways humanity pushes forward—and shows you exactly how you can do the same.
This isn’t surface-level history.
Starting at the dawn of civilisation, we trace the thread of human innovation in the order it happened. Covering the stories of the world's greatest inventors and most powerful ideas.
Each episode is a masterclass - with all the nerdy details and side-quests that matter across science, economics, psychology and more:
Studying the patterns of history and invention shows how every world-changing idea is but a conversation between what has been and what could be.
Journey with us as we untangle the playbooks of the disruptors who change things here on earth and beyond.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Do we really control fire?
While you're patting yourself on the back for lighting that barbecue, fire has been pulling the strings for 2 million years, reshaping our anatomy, rewiring our brains, and dictating our social structures.
It transformed us from ape-like creatures that had a neat standing trick into the cunning apex predator of the world. Along the way, it upended both ecosystems and gender roles but most importantly, made us human.
The lesser-known of fire is that an individual human is completely dependent on it to survive. Furthermore, Society itself is built on fire and would collapse totally without it
Today, as we face the dawn of AI, we're seeing the same pattern. Fire marked a huge leverage of energy that freed us up to think. AI promises to do our thinking for us, which frees us up for who knows what.
aren't tools we use; they're partners that reshape us from the inside out.
Three takeaways:
Ready to understand how fire forged the human mind?
ABOUT
How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission.
Written, edited, recorded, and produced entirely by Sam Webster Harris.
(He also makes the music...)
Help from:
References
Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human - Richard Wrangham
A great overview of fire and human anthropology (apes etc...). I can highly recommend listening/watching some of interviews Richard Wrangham on other podcasts (Lex Friedman, Modern Wisdom, Jordan Peterson)
The Pyrocene: How We Created An Age Of Fire - Stephen Pyne
Some good ideas on the different eras of human fire use: Cooking food -> Cooking land -> Cooking the planet.
Fire: The Spark That Ignited Human Evolution - Frances Burton
The insights on the importance of light helped.
00:00 Intro: The Role of Fire in Civilization
04:32 First Fire - 500 million years ago
07:56 Humans and fire - ~2 million years ago
10:08 The Discovery of Fire
12:21 Stadium of Grandmothers
13:24 Fire's Influence on Human Biology
15:55 Fire and Human Digestion
18:15 Light and Campfires
20:25 Mealtimes
21:32 Human Birth Woes
23:23 Why Only Humans Mastered Fire
25:55 Fire, Social Structures & Gender Roles
31:15 Adapting to the Information Age
33:17 Fire's Role in Human Expansion - 70,000 years ago
35:09 Terraforming with Fire
38:27 The Industrial Revolution and Fossil Fuel
42:00 The Race for Renewable Energy
43:11 Today - Reflecting on our lessons
44:28 AI: The Next Transformative Force
48:04 Reflections on Fire and the Future
49:06 Premium and Book resources
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
