Creation Myths, Stoned Apes & the Eve Theory of Consciousness | Andrew Cutler

About the guest: Andrew Cutler, PhD is a machine learning engineer who has studied natural language processing, psychometrics & personality using quantitative methods. He writes about the origins of consciousness in his Substack, "Vectors of Mind"

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Cutler discuss: language & recursion; human evolution & the origins of "higher" consciousness; symbolic cognition, social intelligence & metacognition; creation myths & ritual cults throughout history; snake cults in human history; the intentional ingestion of snake venom in the present-day; the "Stone Ape Theory" of consciousness; the origins of civilization; 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:
M&M content is created & produced by Dr. Nick Jikomes. He has formal scientific training in molecular genetics & evolution (BS, University of Wisconsin-Madison) and systems neuroscience (PhD, Harvard University). After leaving academia, he worked at a technology startup in the cannabis industry and conducted research on plant chemistry.

#Consciousness #History #Religion #Ritual #Culture #Biology #Science #Podcast

00:00:00 Episode Intro
00:03:17 Andrew Cutler Intro
00:07:00 Human Evolution & Anatomically Modern Humans
00:12:59 Eve Theory of Consciousness Part I
01:03:25 Behavioral Modernity & Symbolic Thought
01:07:02 Creation Myths & the Global Spread of Cultural Practices
01:12:52 The Sapient Paradox & Spread of Behavioral Modernity
01:25:41 Gobekli Tepe & the Adam and Eve Story
01:33:23 Recursion & Symbolic Thought
01:37:23 Eve Theory of Consciousness Part II
01:42:18 Language & Mythology
02:02:19 Future of the Eve Theory