“An insightful and breathtaking exploration of humanity’s evolutionary baggage that explains some of our species’ greatest successes and failures.” ―Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens The ancient inheritance that made us who we are―and is now driving us to ruin. Each of us is endowed with an inheritance―a set of evolved biases and cultural tools that shape every facet of our behavior. For countless generations, this inheritance has taken us to ever greater heights: driving the rise of more sophisticated technologies, more organized religions, more expansive empires. But now, for the first time, it’s failing us. We find ourselves hurtling toward a future of unprecedented political polarization, deadlier war, and irreparable environmental destruction. In Inheritance, renowned anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse offers a sweeping account of how our biases have shaped humanity’s past and imperil its future. He argues that three biases―conformism, religiosity, and tribalism―drive human behavior everywhere. Forged by natural selection and harnessed by thousands of years of cultural evolution, these biases catalyzed the greatest transformations in human history, from the birth of agriculture and the arrival of the first kings to the rise and fall of human sacrifice and the creation of multiethnic empires. Taking us deep into modern-day tribes, including terrorist cells and predatory ad agencies, Whitehouse shows how, as we lose the cultural scaffolding that allowed us to manage our biases, the world we’ve built is spiraling out of control. By uncovering how human nature has shaped our collective history, Inheritance unveils a surprising new path to solving our most urgent modern problems. The result is a powerful reappraisal of the human journey, one that transforms our understanding of who we are, and who we could be. “Fascinating…Whitehouse explores these topics from various angles, addressing the role of ritual, the role of intense emotional experiences in forging violent groups, and the possibility of fundamentally reimagining the materialistic basis of society…[he] ranges widely across disciplines and timescales to formulate his exhilarating narrative of human history.” ― Ian Hughes , Irish Times “A thought provoking look at social forces, and the ways ordinary people can change the world.” ― Sophie McBain , The Guardian “Convincingly argues that we must draw on the lessons of history to manage our evolved psychology more creatively in the future.” ― Mark Bekoff , Psychology Today “Explores how evolutionary inheritance, shaped by millennia of natural and cultural selection, continues to influence human behaviour and societal development. From the origins of agriculture to the complexities of modern geopolitics, Whitehouse’s research offers insights into the forces driving human history and the challenges.” ― Sudipta Datta , The Hindu “One of the best books on the evolutionary inheritance of the modern human world which you are likely to read…In a crowded intellectual field, not always notable for underclaiming or sophistication, [this book] buzzes with ideas that demand attention.” ― Nick Spencer , Church Times “Offers numerous cogent insights…a remarkable book.” ― Mark W. Moffett , Quarterly Review of Biology “Traditionally, we are seen as victims of our biology and environment, but Whitehouse offers the intriguing (and even fun) view that we are masters of our destiny…[Inheritance] is lively, even entertaining, and highly quotable.” ― Robert S. Davis , New York Journal of Books “A thought-provoking journey through human history, challenging readers to recognize their biases, learn from the past, and forge a more sustainable future.” ― Swapna Peri , Storizen “An insightful and breathtaking exploration of humanity’s evolutionary baggage that explains some of our species’ greatest successes and failures.” ― Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens “ Inheritance describes how Harvey Whitehouse’s efforts to understand a culture in Papua New Guinea led ultimately to a new account of how empires rise, stand, and fall. This lucid and original book is important not only as a guide to underlying dynamics in contemporary society but also as an exemplary interweaving of approaches from the natural and social sciences.” ― Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire “This fascinating book combines groundbreaking research with compelling storytelling to reveal how humanity's deepest tendencies toward conforming, believing, and belonging have profoundly shaped our many histories and current realities. Crucially, Harvey Whitehouse goes further to explore how the very tendencies that have got us here can now become invaluable tools for reshaping our collective futures. The result is profoundly thought-provoking―dive in.” ― Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics “Harvey Whitehouse has woven his extensive studies of our inherited human nature into a remarkably readable book that aims