Favoring an “us” against “them” mentality, the human psyche is demonstrably biased towards identifying those who don’t belong. A classic explanation for our tribal instinct is evolutionary: Individuals who sacrifice their selfish interests for the benefit of their social group increase their group’s competitive success. We see this behavior in many animal species, such as chimpanzees, but human tribalistic psychology is unusually intense.
Dr. Wrangham’s presentation explores how, and why, humans differ from other species, focusing on our use of moralistic aggression to enforce norms.

This talk was part of a Leakey Foundation Survival Symposium entitled, "Our Tribal Nature: Tribalism, Politics, and Evolution." The symposium was held in September 2019 at the Morgan Library in New York.

About the speaker:
Richard Wrangham is Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University and founder of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project. He has conducted extensive research on primate ecology, nutrition, and social behavior. He is best known for his work on the evolution of human warfare, described in the book Demonic Males, and on the role of cooking in human evolution, described in the book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. His most recent book, The Goodness Paradox, was published earlier this year. Together with Elizabeth Ross, he co-founded the Kasiisi Project in 1997 and serves as a patron of the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP).