There are some other noteworthy ideas in the space as well—for instance the idea that omega-3 fats represented a nutritional constraint that got lifted by dietary changes. That hypothesis is laid out in The Driving Force.
No doubt all of these ideas have something to them—but the “memes did it” hypothesis is the one that gets my gold star these days.
That one is called the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis—and it is covered in The Runaway Brain—and by Robin Dunbar in his “The Social Brain Hypothesis”.
There are some other noteworthy ideas in the space as well—for instance the idea that omega-3 fats represented a nutritional constraint that got lifted by dietary changes. That hypothesis is laid out in The Driving Force.
No doubt all of these ideas have something to them—but the “memes did it” hypothesis is the one that gets my gold star these days.