Episodes

  • Our Lives Matter S1E35: The Biology of Gender Differences

    Our Lives Matter S1E35: The Biology of Gender Differences
    Jul 25 2024
    Men and women reproduce differently. That’s why we have different reproduction organs. That also means we have different reproductive instincts for the best ways to reproduce. The differences in how men and women think start with the differences in our reproductive instincts. This isn’t a question of whether men are smarter than women, or vice versa. We’re each better than the other at some things, because our mental abilities are better adapted for doing the kinds of things that help us reproduce. ACT I Scene 1 [105 bpm] People always use their abilities and ideas in their environments…
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    47 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E34: Racism and Evolution

    Our Lives Matter S1E34: Racism and Evolution
    Jul 18 2024
    Our species originated in Africa. At the time, there was no way for our ancestors to evolve a dislike for people from other continents, because there were no people from other continents. Racism is xenophobia connected to physical features of people from different continents. Imperialism and colonialism depended on the colonial governments writing different laws for different groups of people, which gave the colonizers the right to take land and resources from the people they were colonizing. Slavery was another way that laws gave different groups of people different sets of rights. Those different sets of laws created different…
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    26 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E33: Human Universals

    Our Lives Matter S1E33: Human Universals
    Jul 11 2024
    Anthropology is the study of differences and similarities among cultures. That means that similarities that all cultures share give us valuable clues to mental traits of our species. That gives us valuable clues to the brain structure of our species. At the same time, this paints a vivid picture of the diversity of humanity. Most of these universals are ways that people all over the world have thought of the same ideas, but found different ways to use them. If you’re looking for things you have in common with other people, you have a lot to choose from. …
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    20 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E32: Privilege versus Adaptation

    Our Lives Matter S1E32: Privilege versus Adaptation
    Jul 4 2024
    People always use their abilities and ideas in their environments to pursue what they value in life, and they think of more ideas in the process. The idea of privilege is one way people talk about how differences in people’s abilities, environments, and ideas affect the outcomes of what they do in life. Recognizing that is a big part of understanding the diversity of humanity. Within a high school you can meet diverse people who each have their own stories about how they’ve used their abilities and ideas in their environments to live their lives. In a college you can…
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    23 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E31: Worldviews and the Principles of Learning

    Our Lives Matter S1E31: Worldviews and the Principles of Learning
    Jun 27 2024
    People live their lives using their abilities and ideas in their environments, and they think of new ideas in the process. The ideas they think of and learn over the course of their lives affect how they see the world. What does education psychology tell us about that? Teachers use principles of learning in school to make ideas memorable. How do those principles play out with ideas that we learn outside of school, and how does that affect how we remember them? ACT I Scene 1 [104 bpm] We’ve been talking about conflicts between worldviews. People live their lives…
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    15 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E30: The Pros and Cons of Rigid Morality

    Our Lives Matter S1E30: The Pros and Cons of Rigid Morality
    Jun 20 2024
    People always use their abilities and ideas in their environments to decide what to do in life. They think of more ideas in the process. Those ideas build up to a personal history and cultural background of ideas they use to interpret the world and keep making their decisions. What do you think of other people’s worldviews? How similar do they have to be to yours for you to feel they’re compatible? That tells us something about cultural development already. The more dangerous people’s living conditions are, the more their societies depend on morality to keep people working…
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    19 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E29: Understanding Worldviews

    Our Lives Matter S1E29: Understanding Worldviews
    Jun 13 2024
    One easy way to see the Web of Human Behavior and Empathy Formula play out is by looking around at people you know. The people who relate to best are usually the people you feel you have the most in common with. But you can relate to anyone if you can figure out how their life is different from yours. What does that tell us about how people see the world? How do differences between your life and someone else’s affect their feelings about what happens in life and what they should do? ACT I Scene 1 [105…
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    21 mins
  • Our Lives Matter S1E28: The Empathy Formula

    Our Lives Matter S1E28: The Empathy Formula
    Jun 6 2024
    We’re all human, and we’re all unique. How do we see through our unique differences to see our fundamental similarities? The Web of Human Behavior connected the first principles of evolutionary psychology and modern theatre. That shows us a map of human decision making, which we can use to tell our own and other people’s stories, and to understand our own and other people’s stories. We’ve seen the big picture of how we see our similarities with other people. How do we fit the pieces together subconsciously and feel our similarities with other people? When we empathize with…
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    49 mins