History of Food, Population Size & Social Stability, Psychological Pandemics, Health & Civilization

About the guest: Rudyard Lynch is a history and anthropology scholar and host of the popular YouTube channel, whatifalthist.

Episode summary: Nick and Rudyard discuss: history of agriculture, diet & food; population density, social structure, and social behavior; the rise and fall of civilizations; history and future of religion & spirituality; and more.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

All M&M content, including podcast episodes & written content, is available on Substack. I mainly respond to questions & comments on that channel:
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ABOUT Nick Jikomes:
Nick is a neuroscientist and podcast host. He is currently Director of Science & Innovation at a technology startup in the legal cannabis industry. He received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University and a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

#Science #Podcast #Biology #Diet #Metabolism #SeedOils #Nutrition

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:00 Rudyard Lynch Intro
00:04:58 Limitations of Marxist ideology in understanding history & science
00:10:25 Scaling laws in biology and culture
00:16:29 Food, culture, and aggression across different societies
00:20:39 How diet and geography shape culture & behavior
00:25:27 Diet's impact on mood and cognition
00:35:24 Hunter-gatherer societies and their relationship to agriculture, family structure & social hierarchy
00:42:21 How elites control food access for social hierarchy maintenance
00:53:49 Societal divisions, cultural identity, and social status hierarchy
00:59:12 Population collapse and societal decay
01:12:05 Mental health, autism & the influence of social networks on individual psychology
01:19:51 Elite overproduction and income inequality
01:35:09 Potential societal collapse & the role of religion in shaping future cultural narratives
01:49:58 New religions emerging in Eastern Europe, Japan, and India
01:56:55 Science, consensus & limitations of scientific knowledge