Everything is better than it used to be — or is it? | Agustín Fuentes

The traditional measure of evolutionary success is a population's ability to continue, adapt and grow. By that measure, humanity has been a huge success: our population is only getting bigger, and for a lot of countries, so is our average life-span. Biological anthropologist Agustín Fuentes takes issue with this measurement. In his view, the sheer number of humans living on the planet doesn't necessarily equate to success. In fact, the argument that humans are doing better than ever before is problematic, because it only considers a narrow perspective of Euro-American societies, ignoring other vast cultures and populations. Instead, Fuentes argues, evolutionary success for humans should be measured by our capacity for flourishing, which includes health, security, interaction, and well-being — and importantly, how this flourishing is distributed across our species. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapters: 0:00 What is evolutionary success? 1:07 Is everything getting better? 1:32 Response #1. Who is “we”? 1:51 Response #2. One broad culture 2:24 Response #3. What is the measure of success? 3:21 Distributing human flourishing Listen To This Next: Adam Grant's #1 phrase to unlock potential The science of super longevity Beat anxiety with the most addictive experience on Earth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation. Get Smarter Faster, With Daily Episodes From The Worlds Biggest Thinkers Go Deeper with Big Think: ►Become a Big Think Member Get exclusive access to full interviews, early access to new releases, Big Think merch and more ►Get Big Think+ for Business Guide, inspire and accelerate leaders at all levels of your company with the biggest minds in business ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get Smarter, Faster.... With Episodes From The Worlds Biggest Thinkers. Follow The Podcast And Turn On The Notifications Share This Episode If You Found It Valuable Leave A 5 Star Review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices