[~1.8 Mya] - Fire: The Innovation that Forged Humanity and Sparked World Domination

Do we really control fire? The lesser-known fact of fire is that an individual human is completely dependent on it to survive. Furthermore, Society itself is built on fire and would collapse totally without itWhile you're patting yourself on the back for lighting that barbecue, fire has been pulling the strings for 2 million years, reshaping our anatomy, rewiring our brains, and dictating our social structures.It transformed us from ape-like creatures that had a neat standing trick into the cunning apex predator of the world. Along the way, it upended both ecosystems and gender roles but most importantly, made us human.Today, as we face the dawn of AI, we're seeing the same pattern. Fire marked a huge leverage of energy that freed us up to think. AI promises to do our thinking for us, which frees us up for who knows what.Three takeaways:Transformative technologies change what we are, not just what we doDependency often disguises itself as control and masteryThe biggest innovations create irreversible psychological and social shiftsReady to understand how fire forged the human mind?ABOUTHow to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.Learn more and contact us - ChangeTheWorldPod.comWritten, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris. (incl the music)Help from:Designs - Francisca Correia (available to hire)Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)ReferencesCatching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human - Richard WranghamA great overview of fire and human anthropology (apes etc...). I can highly recommend listening/watching some of interviews Richard Wrangham on other podcasts (Lex Friedman, Modern Wisdom, Jordan Peterson)The Pyrocene: How We Created An Age Of Fire - Stephen PyneSome good ideas on the different eras of human fire use: Cooking food -> Cooking land -> Cooking the planet.Fire: The Spark That Ignited Human Evolution - Frances BurtonThe insights on the importance of light helped.Chapters00:00 The Role of Fire in Civilization04:32 First Fire - 500 million years ago07:56 Humans and fire - ~2 million years ago10:08 Discovery of Fire12:21 Stadium of Grandmothers13:24 Fire's Influence on Human Biology15:55 Fire and Human Digestion18:15 Light and Campfires20:25 Mealtimes21:32 Human Birth Woes23:23 Why Only Humans Mastered Fire25:55 Fire, Social Structures & Gender Roles31:15 Adapting to the Information Age33:17 Fire's Role in Human Expansion - 70,000 years ago35:09 Terraforming with Fire38:27 The Industrial Revolution and Fossil Fuel42:00 The Race for Renewable Energy43:11 Today - Reflecting on our lessons44:28 AI: The Next Transformative Force48:04 Reflections on Fire and the Future49:06 Premium and Book resources Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.