In Our Time

Evolutionary Psychology


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Evolutionary Psychology. Richard Dawkins redefined human nature in 1976, when he wrote in The Selfish Gene: “They swarm in huge colonies, safe inside giant lumbering robots, sealed off from the outside world, communicating with it by tortuous indirect routes, manipulating it by remote control. They are in you and me; they created us body and mind; and their preservation is the ultimate rational of our existence…they go by the name of genes and we are their survival machines”. Potent ideas like this have given birth to a new discipline, ‘Evolutionary Psychology’: It claims that all of human behaviour can be understood in terms of a single compulsion - we must sexually reproduce so that our genes will live on. How has this idea developed, what can it tell us of how we behave, and can it be trusted? With Janet Radcliffe Richards, Reader in Bioethics, University College, London; Nicholas Humphrey, Professor of Psychology, New School for Social Research, New York; Professor Steven Rose, Professor of Physic, Open University.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our TimeBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

5,109 ratings


More shows like In Our Time

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,913 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

314 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

523 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,067 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

296 Listeners

HistoryExtra podcast by Immediate

HistoryExtra podcast

3,196 Listeners

In Our Time: History by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: History

1,910 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

870 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

618 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

743 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

280 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,113 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

488 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,791 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

227 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

346 Listeners

Have You Heard George's Podcast? by BBC Sounds

Have You Heard George's Podcast?

235 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by Significant Productions

Elis James and John Robins

326 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,245 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,358 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,506 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,920 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

73 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

689 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

528 Listeners

Empire: World History by Goalhanger

Empire: World History

2,552 Listeners

Past Present Future by David Runciman

Past Present Future

347 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Studios

Believe in Magic

630 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

394 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

239 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

54 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

80 Listeners

The History Bureau by BBC

The History Bureau

96 Listeners