Bonus episode about cultural evolution and critical blindness with Steije Hofhuis in Harvesting Happiness

Bonus Session #4 | Examining Cultural Evolution and Critical Blindness with Steije Hofhuis PhD

Original Air Date Wednesday, January 31 , 2024.

Like what you heard on the Harvesting Happiness podcast?

The conversation continues as we dive deeper into the emerging science of cognitive immunology and how it relates to our well-being.

Tribe Drive: Examining Human Instincts, Beliefs, and Behaviors with David Samson PhD

Harvesting Happiness is proud to partner with the researchers and scholars at the Mental Immunity Project (MIP) and Cognitive Immunology Research Collaborative (CIRCE).

Listen to two separate 9-part Harvesting Happiness podcast productions that explore the emerging science of cognitive immunology. Both unique series examine how and why disinformation, conspiracy theories, and media propaganda are used to undermine critical thinking and common sense. This impacts how we think and behave as well as our collective well-being.

This episode is #4 of 9 of More Mental Fitness by Harvesting Happiness bonus content available exclusively on Substack and Medium.

In this episode, Lisa speaks with Steije Hofhuis, a lecturer in cultural history at the Department of History and Art History at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, to continue the conversation about critical blindness and the use of fear, doubt, and disinformation throughout history as a means of societal manipulation.

Dr Hofhuis’ research shows that cultural viruses, or mindbugs, have adapted and evolved in a Darwinian manner through the spread of negative information contagions that manipulate and propagandize data for the benefit of one group over another.

Tune in:

Play it on Substack

Meet Our Guest:

Steije Hofhuis is a lecturer in cultural history at the Department of History and Art History at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. His fields of interest include the Darwinian theory of evolution, early modern witch persecutions, the theory of history, and the history of migration and integration. In 2016, he started his part-time PhD research, funded by the Stichting Professor van Winter Fonds, which, in 2022, resulted in the dissertation named Qualitative Darwinism: An Evolutionary History of Witch-Hunting.

He completed the Research Master’s in History at the University of Amsterdam in 2011, and from 2013-2016 he worked as a junior lecturer at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of the same university.

Steije Hofhuis PhD — The Dumbing Down of Humanity:

The evolution of misbeliefs, critical blindness, and how they adapt culturally. {3:26}
Belief systems during the Holocaust and witch hunts contained similar components. {7:23}
In contemporary society, conspiracy theories are cultural viruses. {9:57}
Steije became eager to collaborate with others at CIRCE after reading Andy Norman’s book, Mental Immunity. {18:12}
During early witch hunts, skeptics did try to communicate with believers using the concept of love. {20:47}

Follow Steije Hofhuis PhD:

Shareables:

“In periods of stress, people become more vulnerable.” @HofhuisSteije on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “This ideology of witch hunting was very well adapted to stimulate conflict.” @HofhuisSteije on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “These beliefs constantly adapted themselves, and when people started to believe in these ideas, everything was seen as confirmation.” @HofhuisSteije on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “People who believe in conspiracy theories are very motivated to tell others about the dangers and to spread their ideas like a virus.” @HofhuisSteije on @HHTalkRadio Share on X

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