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The Social Leap summary
William von Hippel
The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What Makes Us Happy
24 mins
Brief summary
The Social Leap by William von Hippel explores how humans evolved to be social creatures and how our social connections shape our lives and behavior. The book offers insights into the benefits and costs of social living, and challenges readers to reconsider their own approach to social interactions.
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The Social Leap
Summary of 8 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 8
Conditions on the savannah forced our ancestors to evolve a more social lifestyle.
It’s six or seven million years ago and you’re a chimpanzee-like ape living in the lush rainforests of central Africa. Up in the forest canopy, food is plentiful, predators are rare, and life is easy. Unfortunately, all that is about to change.
Over the next million years, climate change and tectonic shifts will erode your verdant jungle habitat. While you get to live in the trees, your descendants will have to scrape by on the open grasslands of the savannah. Down there, there’s less to eat and a lot more hyenas and sabertooth tigers to watch out for.
Life isn’t so easy anymore. If your species wants to endure, it will have to adopt a whole new set of survival strategies.
The key message here is: Conditions on the savannah forced our ancestors to evolve a more social lifestyle.
Our chimp-like ancestors most likely didn’t move to the savannah by choice. After all, compared to life in the trees, eking out an existence on the ground is much more difficult. For one, the vast, relatively sparse fields of the steppe meant pre-humans had to travel farther to gather food. Worse still, all that open space provided little protection from predators.
These new conditions put pressure on our ancestors. The only way to survive was to adapt. For instance, Australopithecus afarensis, a species of ape which emerged three million years ago, is notable for having developed narrower hips to aid bipedal walking, and for having more mobile shoulders and wrists to enable throwing. These changes made it possible to move more quickly and also to throw stones – a crucial skill for warding off large predators.
However, while one ape throwing stones is good, many apes throwing stones is even better. For this reason, the most important adaptation our ancestors evolved was the ability to work cooperatively. Just think, almost every survival strategy – from hunting and watching out for enemies to raising young – becomes much more effective when done in groups.
Of course, working together in an interdependent group isn’t easy. Effective coordination requires communication skills, emotional intelligence, and other new mental capacities we take for granted today. Thus, in order to survive, early hominids had to make a “social leap” by evolving bigger brains and honing their interpersonal abilities.
In the next blink, we’ll take a closer look at how our cognitive capacities grew from this evolutionary pressure.
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What is The Social Leap about?
The Social Leap (2018) casts a critical eye on our modern world through the lens of evolutionary psychology. This provocative text argues that human nature is the product of generations spent struggling to survive on the savannah and that many of our contemporary problems can be understood by looking backward.
The Social Leap Review
The Social Leap (2018) explores the fascinating relationship between evolution and human behavior, providing valuable insights into our social nature. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- By delving into scientific research and anthropology, the book sheds light on how our ancestors' social interactions have shaped us as a species.
- It offers a unique perspective on the development of social skills and the impact of social behavior on our everyday lives.
- With its engaging storytelling and thought-provoking concepts, the book ensures that the exploration of our social nature is far from boring.
Best quote from The Social Leap
When our ancestors chanced upon a social solution to the challenges of life on the savannah they set in place a cascade of events that eventually led to our human origins.
—William von Hippel
Who should read The Social Leap?
- Those interested in the evolution of humanity
- Frazzled souls hoping to understand the modern condition
- Anyone interested in explaining human behavior
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The Social Leap FAQs
What is the main message of The Social Leap?
The main message of The Social Leap is how our sociality has shaped us as humans.
How long does it take to read The Social Leap?
The reading time for The Social Leap varies, but it can be read in a few hours. The Blinkist summary takes only 15 minutes.
Is The Social Leap a good book? Is it worth reading?
The Social Leap is worth reading for its insights into human social behavior and evolution.
Who is the author of The Social Leap?
The author of The Social Leap is William von Hippel.
What to read after The Social Leap?
If you're wondering what to read next after The Social Leap, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Survival of the Friendliest by Brian Hare and Vanessa Wood
- The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
- Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy
- The Job-Ready Guide by Anastasia de Waal
- The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay
- Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
- Drive by Daniel Pink
- The Practicing Happiness Workbook by Ruth Baer
- Gentle by Courtney Carver