How to Change the World: The History & Future of Innovation

Did civilization start with a beat?

You might think music is a perfectly lovely but non-essential tool for survival and world domination. However, music might well be most misunderstood superpower of humanity. This episode explores one of the most impactful and overlooked inventions of history and how it shaped our species into the dominating power it is today.

Long before we were writing sonnets or splitting atoms, we were humming. The origins of rhythm gave our ancestors a staggering advantage. By singing and dancing, early humans flooded their brains with bonding chemicals, transforming isolated apes into cooperative powerhouses. They used melodies as ancient memory drives, encoding massive geographical maps and survival guides into memorable tunes.

Human civilization wasn't forged purely in grim struggle, but through the joyous, rhythmic act of making sound together:
Discover why the history of music is actually the history of human survival.
Learn how rhythm hacks your brain's memory systems to store crucial information.
Understand the psychological reason singing together builds unbreakable trust.
Hit play to discover how a simple beat built the modern world.

Become a Member
Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod
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Ask Sam anything
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ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Website: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

🤗 Join the Patreon: Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod

Help from:
👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)
🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

Resources
A Million Years of Music - Gary Tomlinson
The Origins of Music - Steven Brown
Andre 3000 on Tetragrammaton - Ruck Rubin

CHAPTERS
00:00 Unexplainable events
04:56 Is Music Just Cheesecake?
07:41 Music Is Everywhere
09:56 ACT 1- COMMUNICATION
09:57 Musical Babies
12:24 Motherese
13:59 Music Before Language
14:56 Rhythm and Rock Music
16:29 Chants, Bonding, Dopamine
20:49 Dance, Ritual and Combat
23:07 Neural Combat Training
25:29 Evolution of Storytelling
29:14 ACT 2 - EDUCATION
29:15 Thoughts Surviving
33:02 Songlines
36:46 Music as Memory Hack
37:36 Emotions Drive Decisions
38:41 Anthems and Shared Feeling
40:07 When Songs Change Meaning
41:42 Music takes you on a Journey
45:59 Music is uncontrollable
47:51 Songs Write the Laws
51:40 ACT 3 - FIRST INSTRUMENT
51:45 First Flutes and Melody
54:32 Flutes Today
57:07 ACT 4 - CONCLUSION
57:08 The path of music to today
01:03:36 AI and Music’s Future
01:08:33 Ranking Music on the Richter Scale
01:09:28 Wrap up
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Why are we here? Can the patterns of history and nature tell us anything new?

In this episode of How to Change the World we trace a clear line. From ancient molecules learning to copy themselves, to religions and nations learning to spread, to algorithms that now compete for your attention. All on a subversive quest for immortality.

This hidden history of innovation maps the evolution of the universes most successful survivors. Learn the game theory of how these immortal beings compete and impact society.

This season has been about a species of hairy apes and how they became human. Today we combine science, history, and philosophy to build a set of mental models that explain the animal and human landscape of today and quite possibly tomorrow. The future of humanity depends on the decisions and innovations of today.

This episode will turn a lot of your ideas about the world on their head:
Have you ever considered that your genes don't exist to build you, you exist to build your genes?
Do you have ideas or do ideas colonize your mind - eating away at your attention just like we eat food to survive?
Is innovation more about what we spread, than what we invent?

Become a Member
Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod
Access to behind the scenes episodes
Ask Sam anything
Support the show

ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Website: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

🤗 Join the Patreon: Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod

Help from:
👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)
🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

Resources
The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene - Richard Dawkins

CHAPTERS
00:00 You are a robot
01:47 Patterns of Nature
03:04 ACT 1 - CONTROL
03:39 Nico Tinbergen and the randy fish
06:05 The Primordial Soup Starter Kit
07:23 Algorithmic Governance
08:43 ACT 2 - CO-OPERATION
08:43 Cancer
11:03 Fear of death and The Birth of religion
12:42 ACT 3 - EXTERNAL CONTROL
12:42 Extended Phenotypes
14:55 Remote control
18:01 ACT 4 - IDEA VATS
18:01 Consciousness
20:31 What is a meme?
21:32 Genes vs Memes Speed
23:21 Idea Propogation
25:46 Carrier Class
27:40 ACT 5 - GAME THEORY
28:03 Hawk Dove Conjecture
29:16 Gravity Wells & conformity
30:39 ACT 6 - INNOVATION
30:39 Complexity - Meme Stacks
32:15 Innovation
34:13 ACT 7 - IMMORTAL MINDS
34:13 The Third Replicating Medium - Silicon
36:53 Immortal Minds
38:06 What does it mean to be conscious?
39:45 Building the future
41:28 Sign off
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How humanity invented clothes. In the process, accidentally warping our psychology, sparking civilization, and changing what it means to be human forever.

A fish doesn’t know it’s wet, and a human doesn’t know they are hiding. But every morning, you participate in a ritual that separates you from nature, and your own biology.
For 90% of human history, we were naked. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, we decided to cover up. This episode of How to Change the World challenges the standard narrative of invention stories.

We’ll explore:
Side effects: The invention of the needle to stitch leather went on to stitch the fabric of human civilization
Mental models: how one idea change the psychology of privacy, shame, and status
The Algorithm of Desire: How ancient fashion trends set the rules for modern attraction and power dynamics.

Join the deep dive into the psychology of change and the invisible lines that define our future society.

Become a Member
Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod
Access to behind the scenes episodes
Ask Sam anything
Support the show

ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Website: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

🤗 Join the Patreon: Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod

Help from:
👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)
🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

Resources
Climate, Clothing and Agriculture in Prehistory - Ian Gilligan
A complete account of the development of clothing, from Cambridge University Press.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Naked Dreams
01:38 Welcome
03:50 1 - FIRST CLOTHES
03:50 Genesis
07:00 Naked Ape vs. The Ice Age
09:13 Foot bags
10:40 Tanning a hide
13:03 Lice and Permanent Clothing
18:49 The Eyed Needle
21:49 2 - PSYCHOLOGY REVOLUTION
21:49 Privacy
23:26 Modesty, Shame and Maturity
27:45 Fashion and Mammoth Beads
29:34 Beauty, Biology and Culture
31:12 Culture
32:04 3 - EXTERNALISING ENCLOSURE
33:40 Textiles and Weaving
34:19 Farming Clothes
35:18 Birth Control And Population Growth
37:21 New Religions
38:52 Shoe Technology
40:37 Enclosure Thesis
42:39 4 - PHILOSOPHY OF CLOTHES
42:39 The Cost of Beauty
43:38 Belladona - eye poisoning
44:45 Status beauty - skin and teeth
46:30 Chinese feet binding
49:22 Modern trends and surgeries
51:09 Algorithm of Desire
52:28 What clothing means today
56:32 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A HUMAN?
58:13 The evolution of nakedness
01:00:50 Become a member
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Behind the scenes access to extra content and surprising stories. Sam reveals all sorts of chaos from the weird pages of history, science and the even stranger insides of his mind...

You can support the show and claim your place in history by joining the VIP members club.

What's occurring? As every episode has a lot research that goes unused, we're making an extra sister episode for all every main history episode.

We'll also give extra updates on what's going on and chances to vote on topics.

Premium episodes include:
Cool findings that didn't make the main episode
Fact checking and deeper explanations of confusing stuff
Insights into the process (or lack of) that make the show
AMA questions

Excited, curious or just love clicking links?

Join the Patreon membership - Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod 🤗

ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process learning about frameworks and mental models to think deeeeply about what it means to be human and make stuff happen.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Deets: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

Help from:
👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)
🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

CHAPTERS
00:00 Biiiiiiiiig announcement
01:15 Wait - it's just a Patreon...
01:30 What do YOU get?
02:40 What you DON'T get
03:05 DVD's - Anyone remember those things..?
04:00 Episodes will be interviews
04:31 Join the club (please)
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The most important innovations are invisible. Yet they are reliable building blocks of creativity that fuel human imagination.

The same 26 letter alphabet lets Shakespeare write a play, a researcher publish science or you can text your mum.
A standardised screw thread lets you build a house, a car or a space station.

This is the story of primitives; the fundamental components that make everything else possible. We explore how Jeff Bezos coining the term "Thinking in Primitives" as he invented AWS to the building blocks of the universe and life in it.

Join our tour through the weird and wonderful ideas of history as we gather ideas for how to build the future of humanity, space technology and anything you can imagine.

You'll learn:
By breakthroughs depends on invisible primitives created by someone before you
Why the most valuable opportunities are the ones everyone uses but nobody sees
How to identify foundational building blocks in any industry before competitors do

ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Website: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

🤗 Join the Patreon: Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod

Help from:
👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)
🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

Resources
10 Greatest Mental Models of Jeff Bezos
Sam explains the best mental models of Jeff Bezos on his Growth Mindset Psychology podcast.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intergalactic Planetary... Lasagna
01:40 A mental models episode about building blocks
03:11 #1 - THINKING IN PRIMITIVES: JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON and AWS
04:03 The API Memo
04:39 What is a Primitive?
04:57 How Amazon launched AWS
05:36 The impact of AWS and cloud servers
06:18 #2 - THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE
07:18 How are humans built?
08:09 Mitochondria and energy production
09:39 HOX genes and the animal building instruction manual
11:06 How primitives become essential foundations
12:35 #3 - CIVILIZATION AND HIDDEN INVENTIONS
14:02 The Essential Ingredients of Early empires
15:42 Standardisations that make the world work
17:54 #4 - PRIMITIVE LESSONS
19:37 Market timing and innovation mistakes
21:31 Just do stuff
23:00 #5 - FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
23:19 CRISPR and Casgevy
25:19 Space and Orbital Refuelling
27:14 Wrap up
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