Sam Webster Harris chronicles the complete history of innovation from the Stone Age to the modern day. Learn how transformative ideas build upon each other to change the world and shape the future of humanity.
Every breakthrough that changes civilization begins with curiosity. From the first controlled fire to artificial intelligence. Follow the journey, step-by-step, tracing the evolution of human progress and society. On the way, uncovering the nerdy stories and fun facts behind world-changing inventions and the mental models that drive systemic change.
Each episode is a deep dive into innovation patterns and the threads that shape our world:
- From Leonardo Da Vinci dissecting human bodies to editing our own DNA
- Maritime Navigation sets the course for Interstellar exploration
- Hammurabi's legal code is relevant in algorithmic governance
Modern revolutions in technology and the future of AI are a continuation of core needs of their human creators. Our desire for leverage shows up time and again in the history of civilization.
Drawing insights from psychology, economics, and anthropology, we explore how change makers in history like Galileo, Newton, and Tesla didn't just discover big ideas. They transformed civilization itself. Their playbooks reveal timeless strategies for anyone seeking to understand how the world works.
This isn't surface-level history. It's intellectual history told through narrative learning—connecting past invention stories to the future of technology, future of society, and patterns of history that will define the Anthropocene.
Whether you're fascinated by the timeline of human history, founder stories, or the psychology of change, each episode delivers actionable mental models wrapped in engaging storytelling. Learn something new about human progress while discovering your own potential to change the world.
For the intellectually curious seeking to understand innovation, drive progress, and glimpse the future of humanity.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sam Webster Harris chronicles the complete history of innovation from the Stone Age to the modern day. Learn how transformative ideas build upon each other to change the world and shape the future of humanity.
Every breakthrough that changes civilization begins with curiosity. From the first controlled fire to artificial intelligence. Follow the journey, step-by-step, tracing the evolution of human progress and society. On the way, uncovering the nerdy stories and fun facts behind world-changing inventions and the mental models that drive systemic change.
Each episode is a deep dive into innovation patterns and the threads that shape our world:
- From Leonardo Da Vinci dissecting human bodies to editing our own DNA
- Maritime Navigation sets the course for Interstellar exploration
- Hammurabi's legal code is relevant in algorithmic governance
Modern revolutions in technology and the future of AI are a continuation of core needs of their human creators. Our desire for leverage shows up time and again in the history of civilization.
Drawing insights from psychology, economics, and anthropology, we explore how change makers in history like Galileo, Newton, and Tesla didn't just discover big ideas. They transformed civilization itself. Their playbooks reveal timeless strategies for anyone seeking to understand how the world works.
This isn't surface-level history. It's intellectual history told through narrative learning—connecting past invention stories to the future of technology, future of society, and patterns of history that will define the Anthropocene.
Whether you're fascinated by the timeline of human history, founder stories, or the psychology of change, each episode delivers actionable mental models wrapped in engaging storytelling. Learn something new about human progress while discovering your own potential to change the world.
For the intellectually curious seeking to understand innovation, drive progress, and glimpse the future of humanity.
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.