Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Joseph Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
His influential work sits at the intersection of anthropology, psychology and evolutionary science, examining how culture shapes human cognition, behaviour and even biological evolution.
He is particularly known for his work on cultural evolution, cultural learning and culture-gene coevolution, and for challenging the assumption that findings from Western populations necessarily describe universal human psychology.
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IQ scores rose dramatically across the 20th century, but in recent decades, that trend may have begun to reverse.
Joe Henrich explains the Flynn effect. That is, why an average person today could theoretically have scored around 130 on an IQ test a century ago, and what this tells us about the way intelligence is shaped by culture, education and the cognitive demands of our environment.
More fundamentally, Professor Henrich asks whether IQ tests capture intelligence itself, or a particular set of abilities that became especially valuable in modern, industrialised societies.
A fascinating perspective on what IQ really measures, why scores change across generations, and how the skills that define “intelligence” may change again in the age of AI.
The Full 60 minute podcast with Joe Henrich will be live on our channel soon. Do subscribe to be the first to tune in!
Links:
https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu
https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/books-edited-volumes-and-special-issues-journals - Check out Joe's books (Including Weird People)
Connect with us:
freedompact.co.uk/newsletter (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)
Instagram.com/freedompactpod
twitter.com/freedompactpod
Email: freedompact@gmail.com
Tiktok.com/personaldevelopment
Joseph Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
His influential work sits at the intersection of anthropology, psychology and evolutionary science, examining how culture shapes human cognition, behaviour and even biological evolution.
He is particularly known for his work on cultural evolution, cultural learning and culture-gene coevolution, and for challenging the assumption that findings from Western populations necessarily describe universal human psychology.
----
IQ scores rose dramatically across the 20th century, but in recent decades, that trend may have begun to reverse.
Joe Henrich explains the Flynn effect. That is, why an average person today could theoretically have scored around 130 on an IQ test a century ago, and what this tells us about the way intelligence is shaped by culture, education and the cognitive demands of our environment.
More fundamentally, Professor Henrich asks whether IQ tests capture intelligence itself, or a particular set of abilities that became especially valuable in modern, industrialised societies.
A fascinating perspective on what IQ really measures, why scores change across generations, and how the skills that define “intelligence” may change again in the age of AI.
The Full 60 minute podcast with Joe Henrich will be live on our channel soon. Do subscribe to be the first to tune in!
Links:
https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu
https://henrich.fas.harvard.edu/books-edited-volumes-and-special-issues-journals - Check out Joe's books (Including Weird People)
Connect with us:
freedompact.co.uk/newsletter (Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Newsletter)
Instagram.com/freedompactpod
twitter.com/freedompactpod
Email: freedompact@gmail.com
Tiktok.com/personaldevelopment
