#689 Michael Tomasello - The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans
Dr. Michael Tomasello is Emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, and James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor at Duke University. He is considered one of today’s most authoritative developmental and comparative psychologists. He’s the author of several books, including The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition (1999), A Natural History of Human Thinking (2014), A Natural History of Human Morality (2016), and Becoming Human: A Theory of Ontogeny (2019). His most recent book is The Evolution of Agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans.
In this episode, we focus on The Evolution of Agency. We talk about agency from an evolutionary perspective, focusing on the feedback control model of agency, and go through evolutionary history, touching on the first animate actors, the first goal-directed agents, the first intentional agents, the first rational agents, and the first socially normative agents. We talk about some representatives of each of them. We discuss where goals come from, the role of emotions, the understanding of agency in animals, social norms, and the role of culture in collective agency. We also discuss the aspects of sociality that are uniquely human. Finally, we talk about free will.
Time Links:
Intro
What is agency from an evolutionary perspective?
The feedback control model of agency
The first animate actors (C. elegans), and the first goal-directed agents (lizards)
The first intentional agents (squirrels, rats)
Where do goals come from?
The role of emotions
The first rational agents (great apes)
Which animals have an understanding of agency?
The first socially normative agents (humans)
Are social norms exclusive to humans?
The role of culture in collective agency
What aspects of sociality are uniquely human?
Free will
Follow Dr. Tomasello’s work!
Follow Dr. Tomasello’s work:
Our first interview: https://youtu.be/yt9eS0pCsgo
Duke faculty page: https://bit.ly/3n9zGmB
Tomasello Lab: https://bit.ly/37bz36t
Max Planck page: https://bit.ly/376G0ph
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/377a9EM
The Evolution of Agency: https://amzn.to/3QN2bVg
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/3n96Xhy