Why humans won against neanderthals | Yuval Noah Harari and Lex Fridman

Full podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mde2q7GFCrw Lex Fridman podcast channel: youtube.com/lexfridman Guest bio: Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and author of Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, and Unstoppable Us.

"We fight over stories" is a very psychedelically refreshing way to look at things.

“To know if you’re happy or not is a very difficult question but when you suffer you know”

“We inflict suffer on millions of lives for the sake of a story, and that’s the tragedy of human kind” man that hit me hard

There is ONE PHYSICAL skill set that us Homo sapiens do far better than all the other species on earth and it's been proven : The Javelin Throw. In the early 2000's, there was an eccentric French player named Lizarazu who started a show where he compared humans and animals side by side in the same sport (basically, almost every sport at the olympics). It turns out that there is an animal that could beat us at absolutely everything except for the Javelin throw. The scientific explanation behind it is based on the muscles in our shoulder area. The other species on earth do not have the flexibility nor the elasticity necessary to achieve the distances or the precision we can on this specific throw. As most of you know, this was the essential physical skill used by primitive humans to kill four legged predators.

Robot:"What is my purpose?" Rick Sanchez:"You serve us butter." Robot : "Oh my god"

Stories are incredibly important for people to understand complex ideas. They will never go away. We just need to be watchful of the stories we believe. By their fruits, we will know them.

Sapiens is my favourite book. Every page is fascinating

This concept of the story being the power which shapes humanity for better or worse is an amazing gift of an idea. Thank you for sharing.

He includes other animals in the moral calculation. How refreshing and a sign of high intelligence.

Very interesting. Will definitely go watch the full interview. PS Lex come visit us in Cape Town. Thanks for everything and all the best.

It's amazing that we are programmed to realize and limit suffering in all things , except when we are dealing with our own .

This conversation truly highlighted the power of stories in our evolution as a species. It's fascinating to imagine if other animals could ever develop a similar ability to share complex narratives and shape their societies in the way we have.

So grateful Lex brought up the question at 6:15! Yes, stories create mini and macro culture and they are in charge, not humans. Stories are taught to toddles at the same time they are learning language and those stories stay in your brain (along with the built in defense mechanisms every story has) the rest of your life, and are almost impossible to move past.

I love the black and white suit. Nobody Ware's it anymore.its cool.

I often approach the idea of cognitive A.I. from the perspective that it would be the step-child of human society. While I think it will be extremely important for humans to know the difference between when they are interacting with another human and when it is an A.I., For the sake of our civilization. I perceive the greatest threat from A.I. to come from it being treated as an "other". From both our perspective and its own. "A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."

Amazing discussion , I don't know how some people find Lex's Podcast boring....

The most fascinating thing I think we found from the Neanderthals is the flute... I don't know.. it's just... Beautiful, sad and makes you wonder..

Wow ! Man,,, Lex's podcasts never fail to capture & hold my attention ! I really enjoy listening to him & his guests... * Favorite episode for me is still w/ Paul Rosolie & "Mother of God",,, such an Amazing book.. Thanks for all you do Lex,,, Love your show... 👣

After a close examination, there are lots of neanderthals still among us, see them everyday