Robin Hanson – We Broke Humanity’s Superpower
About
Robin Hanson gave the talk ‘Our Big Oops: We Broke Humanity’s Superpower’ at Future Day 2025.
Abstract
Humanity’s superpower is cultural evolution. Which still goes great for behaviors that can easily vary locally, like most tech and business practices. But modernity has plausibly broken our evolution of shared norms and values, as that needs natural selection of whole cultures. We now have less variety, weaker selection pressures, and faster changes from context and cultural activism. Our options to fix are neither easy nor attractive.
More on Our Big Oops.
Culture Status Report
Robin Hanson did a status report on cultural drift in Dec 2024, a thoughtful examination of the forces driving cultural change today. He articulates how cultural drift—small, incremental shifts in societal norms—combined with the relentless pursuit of status, is reshaping our culture at an unprecedented pace, especially in our digitally connected era. The report serves as both a status update and a cautionary note: while cultural evolution is natural and can be beneficial, its rapid acceleration and the accompanying loss of stability pose significant challenges. Hanson’s work invites us to reflect deliberately on the direction of our cultural evolution, aiming to strike a balance between embracing innovation and preserving the enduring values that bind us together.
See: https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/culture-status-report
Note, this talk was called ‘The Dangers of Accelerating Culture Drift’
Other Stuff
Beware Cultural Drift – Interview with Robin Hanson
