11-13 April 2024, Budapest
How did Homo Sapiens become a hyper-cooperator, and how did music facilitate the evolution of it?
During their 150,000-200,000 years of evolution, humans thrived in small groups that relied on hunting and gathering. Success in these endeavours varied greatly, leading to regular periods of starvation and deprivation. Mutual assistance between group members was crucial to survival – those who could work together more effectively gained a significant advantage. Based on biological facts, we show that music is a very specific human art that makes us more cooperative and socially tolerant, so the love of music has a deep evolutionary background. This evolutionary process has shaped humans into highly social creatures, deeply attuned to the benefits of cooperation.
Participants:
Balázs Weyer (HU)
István Scheuring (HU)
Moderated by Balázs Weyer (HU)
