The Evolutionary Origins of Human Communities

We, humans, are community-living apes. This fact is so close to our nature that we take it for granted. The only time when we notice how important living in a community is to us is when something goes wrong. When we are surrounded by many, but feel lonely, when we long to belong but are excluded. The truth we sometimes forget is that a happy human is one that lives in a highly connected, stable, and reliable social world. When we get it right, it adds about 10 years to our lives.   In this workshop we will explore our community buttons. We will push them one by one and not only understand but also feel what it means to be a human ape. 

Our journey will take us from mother’s milk to passionate love to dinner parties, all the way to sacrificial rituals. We will feel the touch of music on our skins, bond through play, and tell stories that create a shared map of the universe. To cap it, we will learn how to design a community for a purpose, whether to answer a question, do a task together, or just collect that happiness bonus of 10 extra years.

ABOUT Dr. Tamás David-Barrett

Tamás David-Barrett is a behavioural scientist, whose research asks what traits allow humans to live in large and culturally complex societies. He is especially interested in the architecture of social networks, and the evolutionary origins of social network building traits. Tamas’s structural micro-foundation theory offers a new understanding of human societies, and brings biological and social science models under a shared umbrella.    Currently, Tamás is based in Oxford where he teaches at Trinity College, but used to run a research consultancy and worked all around the planet. He was educated in London, Cambridge, Jerusalem, and Budapest. He recently finished his book, Matriocracy: The Science of Gender Rules, and is currently working on a new book: How to Think Scientifically. Tamás is the host of the State of Species annual lecture.