Democracy’s Deep Roots: From Hunter-Gatherers to Modern Society -- A conversation between Vivek Venkataraman and David Sloan Wilson

AI is no longer a distant future - it’s shaping our lives right now. But what if we could design it not just to be smart, but to be good? In this powerful conversation, Cornelia Walther and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson explore how we can build AI systems that truly serve people and the planet. They dive into the concept of Prosocial AI, technology that’s designed to support human connection, equity, and environmental sustainability—and the emerging field of hybrid intelligence, where human empathy and creativity team up with AI’s speed and precision. You’ll hear how we can deliberately shape AI with inclusive voices, transparent practices, and a strong ethical foundation to ensure it aligns with our highest values. From development to deployment, this episode outlines a path forward: one where technology empowers communities and nurtures a healthier, fairer world. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a changemaker, or simply curious about how tech can uplift humanity, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

What if the roots of democracy run far deeper than ancient Greece or Enlightenment Europe, but back to our evolutionary origins as humans? In this thought-provoking conversation, evolutionary anthropologist Vivek Venkataraman and renowned scientist David Sloan Wilson dig into how early human societies, particularly hunter-gatherers, managed to balance individual freedom with the needs of the group. Long before constitutions and parliaments, our ancestors developed powerful, organic systems for cooperation, decision-making, and fairness. This discussion explores how evolution shaped us into an ultra-cooperative species, and what modern societies can learn from these ancient ways of living. The implications aren’t just academic; they offer practical insights for strengthening both formal and grassroots democratic governance today, from local communities to global systems. Whether you're into anthropology, politics, or just curious about what it really means to live well together, this is a conversation that bridges past and future in a surprising and meaningful way.

A conversation between Madhusudan Katti and Amitangshu Acharya Join us for a thought-provoking virtual dialogue exploring how colonial worldviews have shaped modern ecology - and what it means to decolonize our relationship with nature in an era of social and environmental upheaval. Building on themes from the This View of Life series “Decolonizing Science", ecologist Madhusudan Katti and writer-researcher Amitangshu Acharya delve into questions at the intersection of science, history, and justice. Together, they’ll challenge dominant narratives and invite us to reimagine ecological knowledge that is rooted in compassion, context, and community.

Originally published on September 9, 2024  

Hunter-gatherer societies are fascinating in their own right and--with appropriate caution--a major source of insight about our ancestral past, stretching back to our origin as a species. Remarkably, hunter-gatherer societies also have much to teach us about modern Democratic governance. Vivek Venkataraman is an idea guide to this subject, with a background in philosophy, primatology, and human evolutionary biology, along with direct experience living with and researching indigenous people in Malaysia.   Originally published January 29, 2025.

Originally published on January 8, 2025. Hunter-gatherer societies are fascinating in their own right and--with appropriate caution--a major source of insight about our ancestral past, stretching back to our origin as a species. Remarkably, hunter-gatherer societies also have much to teach us about modern Democratic governance. Vivek Venkataraman is an idea guide to this subject, with a background in philosophy, primatology, and human evolutionary biology, along with direct experience living with and researching indigenous people in Malaysia.  Check out the resources, articles, and more mentioned in this conversation! 4:21  A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons By Robert M. Sapolsky ·2007 12:37 The Goodness Paradox The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution By Richard Wrangham · 2019 14:30  Hierarchy in the Forest The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior By Christopher BOEHM · 2009 14:35 and 22:41  Moral Origins The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame By Christopher Boehm · 2012 17:52 A Story of Us A New Look at Human Evolution By Lesley Newson, Peter J. Richerson · 2021 22:51 Morality from an Evolutionary Perspective with Simon Blackburn: https://www.prosocial.world/posts/morality-from-an-evolutionary-perspective-with-simon-blackburn 29:06 and 40:56 Man the Hunter Symposium 33:31 Eating Christmas in the Kalahari Richard Borshay Lee 37:23 Co-Residence Patterns in Hunter-Gatherer Societies Show Unique Human Social Structure Kim R. Hill , et al. 44:43  Variability in the organization and size of hunter-gatherer groups: Foragers do not live in small-scale societies 46:28  The Evolution of Subjective Commitment to Groups: A Tribal Instincts Hypothesis Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd, 2011 48:23  Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model Manvir Singh and Luke Glowacki, 2022 50:20 The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity By David Graeber, David Wengrow · 2021 57:19 Society Against the State: Essays in Political Anthropology by Pierre Clastres, 1987

Who is Barry-Wehmiller (BW)? Not a person, but a manufacturing corporation and star attraction of the Conscious Capitalism movement. If you are familiar with this movement, you might have read Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, by CEO Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia, co-founder of the Conscious Capitalism movement. Or perhaps a Harvard Business School case report titled Truly Human Leadership at Barry-Wehmiller. But BW deserves to become known far beyond its current circle of fame. Not only has it created an extraordinary culture of caring for itself, but it has replicated its culture in over 140 other companies that it has acquired--or rather adopted, to use its preferred word. Stated in scientific terms that can be understood beyond the business world, BW has conducted a bold experiment in prosocial cultural evolution and replicated it 140 times. An earlier podcast with Chapman and Sisodia views BW through a distinctively evolutionary lens. This podcast covers the same ground in more detail with three senior staff members—Rhonda Spencer, Brian Wellinghof, and David Pickersgill. We are also joined by Michael Pirson, James A.F. Stoner Chair for Global Sustainability at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, who works closely with BW staff to promote the relevance of BW  throughout the business world.   Originally published on September 16, 2024. https://www.prosocial.world/posts/barry-wehmillers-bold-experiment-in-prosocial-cultural-evolution

Conscious capitalism is well known as a business movement that goes against almost everything that is taught in business school. However, the same movement makes perfect sense when viewed through the lens of a new paradigm for economics and business based on a combination of complex systems science and evolutionary science. I discuss this paradigm shift with two leaders of the Conscious Capitalism movement Raj Sisodia and Bob Chapman.   Originally published May 10, 2024. www.prosocial.world/posts/conscious-capitalism-viewed-through-the-lens-of-a-new-paradigm-with-raj-sisodia-and-bob-chapman 

The first book-length articulation of an economic paradigm based on complex systems science and evolutionary science was Eric Beinhocker's The Origin of Wealth, published in 2006. He is currently Professor of Public Policy Practice at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government and Executive Director of INET Oxford. Eric joins me to assess progress during the last 18 years and prospects for the future. One of Eric's recent essays that we discuss is titled Toward a New Ontological Framework for the Economic Good.   Originally published on August 7, 2024. https://www.prosocial.world/posts/assessing-the-complexity-evolution-paradigm-with-eric-beihocker 

Few people know more about cities than Jonathan Rose, author of The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations, and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life. Jonathan is a practitioner in addition to a scholar. His urban development company is at the forefront of "building wellbeing through communities of opportunity". In our conversation, we discuss how two bodies of knowledge that are new within the last 50 years--complex systems science and generalized Darwinism--can help to catalyze prosocial cultural evolution at the scale of whole cities.   Originally published on August 10, 2024. https://www.prosocial.world/posts/evolving-prosocial-cities-with-jonathan-rose