DiscoverScience on Player FMThe Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics - The Michael Shermer Show
The Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics - The Michael Shermer Show

The Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics - The Michael Shermer Show

Update: 2025-09-13
Share

Description

Science writer Nicholas Wade explains how human nature continues to shape—and sometimes destabilize—modern civilization, and argues that ignoring the effects of human nature on politics is one of society’s greatest mistakes.

Drawing on anthropology, evolutionary biology, and history, Wade shows how deep-rooted traits not only shape the outcomes of certain political beliefs and systems, but also affect how people form families, religion, and social order.

Nicholas Wade has worked at Nature and Science, and, for many years, at The New York Times, where he was an editorial writer and science editor. He is the author of four books about recent human evolution. His latest is The Origin of Politics: How Evolution and Ideology Shape the Fate of Nations.

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

The Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics - The Michael Shermer Show

The Fate of Nations: Why Ignoring Human Nature Dooms Politics - The Michael Shermer Show