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March 11, 2016
Q. Humans have an impressive technological toolkit compared to other species. Is this because we're very smart or because we're very social?
A. In his book, “The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species and Making Us Smarter,” Harvard professor Joseph Henrich uses a simple mathematical model to investigate how inventions spread through a population. Consider some invention (such as a stone tool) and imagine two different proto-human species, the Geniuses — who are very smart (inventive) but not too social — and the Butterflies — who are very social but not too smart.
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