Astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell on Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History

Socrates /

Posted on: August 12, 2022 / Last Modified: August 12, 2022

Prof. Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiologist who looks for life on distant planets. In his most recent book, however, Dartnell turns his gaze inward and backward to the human story – who we are, how we came to be, where we are coming from, and, most importantly, how the geological planetary processes drove the evolution of humanity and set the stage where our culture, politics, science, technology, and economics later came to play.

During our 85-min conversation with Lewis Dartnell, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as our Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History; the associations between US domestic politics and 75-million-old rocks; the Anthropocene and Climate Change; the existential challenges that humanity is facing today; AI and consciousness; intelligence as a survival function of settings your priorities; The Knowledge and how to rebuild a civilization; Alien Life and whether we are the lone intelligent species; colonizing Mars and the minimum viable number of people; story, science, music, and ethics; why the world is transformed by asking questions.

My favorite quotes that I will take away from this conversation with Lewis Dartnell are:

We’re children of plate tectonics

and

Humanity survives on eating grass

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunesmake a direct donation, or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Lewis Dartnell?

Prof. Lewis Dartnell is a research scientist, presenter, and author based in London, UK.

Lewis graduated from Oxford University with a First Class degree in Biological Sciences and completed his Ph.D. at University College London in 2007. Darnell currently holds the Professorship in Science Communication at the University of Westminster. His research is in the field of astrobiology and the search for microbial life on Mars. Lewis has also held an STFC Science in Society Fellowship and is very active in delivering live events at schools and science festivals, working as a scientific consultant for the media, and has appeared in numerous TV documentaries and radio shows. He has won several awards for his science writing and outreach work and regularly freelances for newspapers and magazine articles. Prof. Dartnell has published four booksThe Knowledge was the Sunday Times ‘New Thinking’ Book of the Year and international bestseller, and my latest ORIGINS: How the Earth Made Us is a Sunday Times top History book of 2019.

Browse More

Jamelle Lindo Profile

Jamelle Lindo on Emotional Intelligence in the Age of AI: Harness the Power of Emotion

Transhumanist Manifestos and Dilemmas - A Decade and a Half of Reflection

Transhumanist Manifestos and Dilemmas: A Decade and a Half of Reflection

What´s Your Why?

Get Your Why before AI: Technology is The How, Not the Why or What

You're Fired. 3d rendering graphic composition on the subject of "Technological Displacement Of Jobs / Robotization".

From Mutual Dependence to Obsolescence: The Future of Labor in an AI-Driven Economy

Why I went Vegan

Our Future, AI and Veganism: 6 Reasons Why I Went Vegan

Socrates

It’s Ethics. Not Tech Ethics.

Dr. Martin Shaw

Modern Bard Dr. Martin Shaw: Be a Story-maker for Your Times

Kevin-Kelly-by-Christopher-Michel-7

Kevin Kelly on Wisdom and Excellent Advice for Living