
Inheritance
The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $27.14
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Harvey Whitehouse
About this listen
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 imperiled 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.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Harvey Whitehouse (P)2024 Dreamscape MediaListeners also enjoyed...
-
A Life of Meaning
- Exploring Our Deepest Questions and Motivations
- By: James Hollis PhD
- Narrated by: James Hollis PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrated author and Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis explores the deep archetypal themes of our human lives - and offers questions and insights to help us access the greater meaning of our journey. Includes insights on the nature of meaning, shadow work, resilience in times of change, a psychological approach to the Seven Deadly Sins, and more.
-
-
My Favorite Jungian
- By EdgarFriendly88 on 12-24-20
By: James Hollis PhD
-
Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
-
-
The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
-
Autocracy, Inc.
- The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran.
-
-
A Triumphant Work -Puts It All Together With Laser Clarity
- By Sjhoffman on 09-19-24
By: Anne Applebaum
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
The Coming Wave
- AI, Power, and Our Future
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy.
-
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
Living Between Worlds
- Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times
- By: James Hollis PhD
- Narrated by: Michael Cover
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What guides us when our world is changing? Discover the path to deeper meaning and purpose through depth psychology and classical thought.
-
-
Interesting book, Woeful narration
- By Roger Morris on 07-01-20
By: James Hollis PhD
-
A Life of Meaning
- Exploring Our Deepest Questions and Motivations
- By: James Hollis PhD
- Narrated by: James Hollis PhD
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrated author and Jungian psychoanalyst James Hollis explores the deep archetypal themes of our human lives - and offers questions and insights to help us access the greater meaning of our journey. Includes insights on the nature of meaning, shadow work, resilience in times of change, a psychological approach to the Seven Deadly Sins, and more.
-
-
My Favorite Jungian
- By EdgarFriendly88 on 12-24-20
By: James Hollis PhD
-
Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
-
-
The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
-
Autocracy, Inc.
- The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
- By: Anne Applebaum
- Narrated by: Anne Applebaum
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran.
-
-
A Triumphant Work -Puts It All Together With Laser Clarity
- By Sjhoffman on 09-19-24
By: Anne Applebaum
-
The War Below
- Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
- By: Ernest Scheyder
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
-
-
Misses its chance at greatness
- By B L on 09-16-24
By: Ernest Scheyder
-
The Coming Wave
- AI, Power, and Our Future
- By: Mustafa Suleyman, Michael Bhaskar - contributor
- Narrated by: Mustafa Suleyman
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are approaching a critical threshold in the history of our species. Everything is about to change. Soon you will live surrounded by AIs. They will organize your life, operate your business, and run core government services. You will live in a world of DNA printers and quantum computers, engineered pathogens and autonomous weapons, robot assistants and abundant energy.
-
-
Click bait
- By Buyer on 09-11-23
By: Mustafa Suleyman, and others
-
Living Between Worlds
- Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times
- By: James Hollis PhD
- Narrated by: Michael Cover
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What guides us when our world is changing? Discover the path to deeper meaning and purpose through depth psychology and classical thought.
-
-
Interesting book, Woeful narration
- By Roger Morris on 07-01-20
By: James Hollis PhD
What listeners say about Inheritance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tara
- 09-17-24
Great thesis and supporting evidence
the author speaks quickly and quietly so you have to listen carefully to understand all the points he makes. Fantastic information but it's like drinking from a fire hose. Still worth the listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-13-24
Rich analysis based on decades of research
Whitehouse's analysis is very persuasive and clear. One advantage of having him read the book himself is that his enthusiasm and humor come across vividly. He has studied conformism, religiosity, and tribalism across many cultures, including historical cultures, and he makes a good case for how they have developed in specific historical and cultural contexts that can be compared. Some may object to his use of evolutionary psychology and quantitative methods, but I thought it helped to show how powerful rituals and "fusion" among specific groups, sometimes in positive ways and often in disturbing ways.
My one caveat is that his last section, on ways that conformism, religiosity, and tribalism might be harnessed for worldwide progress in combating climate change and violence is unabashedly utopian. While it seems possible that they might be adapted for good ends, it also seems all too plausible that they could be adapted more widely for totalitarianism.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!