the co-evolution of Technology and cognition in primate species

The History of Thought – Book Two

Co-written with Timothy Taylor (Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of World Prehistory, Jan Eisner Professor of Archaeology at Comenius University in Bratislava, and author of several books on human prehistory). An academic book based on research into the effects of technology on human thought. Addresses a gap in the academic literature by integrating work across evolutionary psychology, archaeology, history, economics, neuroscience, psychology, and more, and spanning from the human present to the very deep past.

Reviews evolution of proto-human and human cognition from ~8 mya to the present, with special focus on the interplay between cognitive adaptations, social/cultural, technological adoptions/evolutions and evolutionary niches, and the emergence of language. The book traces the way in which we have become physically weaker as we have become more intelligent and examines the background to this recent biological ‘de-evolution.’ The argument contextualizes many modern-day issues, from increasing cultural polarization, and gender theory to the problems of atavistic violence, fundamentalist belief systems, and factors that lead to rising cultural polarization and emerging nationalism trends.

Central point: modern human thought can be better understood by seeing how human thought evolved biologically over millions of years in a synergistic relationship with the technological innovations which are not merely its product but also, paradoxically, its cause. The insights in this volume yield an important new understanding and model of human thought, one that shows that thought is remarkably contingent and vulnerable to the unpredictable aftereffects of material advances.

Pre-publication status – 60% complete; has been through 2 rounds of peer review at Oxford University Press, with the second-round receiving unanimous recommendations to publish.  Proposal is undergoing final edits before being re-submitted for final editorial board review. Book 2 of a two-volume series. ~450 pages; ~1,000 citation