January 15, 2018 8:00 pm

Tuesday Night, Rediscover “What Makes Us Human, with Natalia Reagan”

Feeling a bit nostalgic as we enter a new year? Then why not look back at the history of all humanity.

As we come to the end of our second season of StarTalk All-Stars, we’re re-playing some of the best episodes. This week, rediscover what makes us human, with our host and primatologist Natalia Reagan, comic co-host Patrick Melton, and paleoanthropologist Marc Kissel.

Photo of Natalia Reagan, Marc Kissel, and Patrick Melton, in studio.

Left to right: Natalia Reagan, Marc Kissel, and Patrick Melton, in studio.

This episode deeply explores the hominoid lineage and the knowledge and mysteries behind the evolution of wisdom over our species’ development. Marc, who currently works on the Evolution of Wisdom project at Notre Dame, also explains how that project might help us better understand ourselves:

The project seeks to investigate the basic parameters, and processes, of the evolutionary origins of human wisdom, where wisdom is defined as the pattern (and ability) of successful complex decision-making in navigating social networks and dynamic niches in human communities.”

What’s interesting to me is the definition of wisdom. Something that monumental can be very hard to define. Couldn’t someone’s “successful” complex decision-making be disastrous to someone else? With history being such a long tapestry of trial and error, how can we know for sure if something was a success or a failure? Trying to uncover what’s deemed as “wisdom” can be very difficult and, as noted in this episode, makes it hard to flesh out wisdom on the fossil record.

They also discuss if teeth can tell us about the altruism and compassion shown between early humans. You’ll also hear our trio answer fan-submitted Cosmic Queries ranging from hair loss to what future humans will look like half a million years into the future.

In an episode that asks a lot of deep questions, there is one definite way you can prove you have wisdom – by listening!

Please join us tomorrow night for What Makes Us Human, with Natalia Reagan (Repeat) at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on our All-Stars channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen

Get the most out of StarTalk!

Ad-Free Audio Downloads
Ad-Free Video Episodes
Stickers & Mugs
Live Streams with Neil
Priority Cosmic Queries
Early-Access Videos
Learn the Meaning of Life
...and much more