Human Exceptionalism (episode)

Summary

Harvard primatologist Christine Webb talks to Rachel Donald about her book ‘The Arrogant Ape’: human exceptionalism, the belief that we’re supreme over the rest of nature, sits at the root of the ecological crisis. Almost every trait we’ve claimed as ours alone turns up in other species, and children seem to learn the hierarchy only at around four.

Rationale

We left open whether ‘anthrosupremacy’ sits beside separation or grows from it. Either way, Webb suggests it’s learned young, from the culture around us: enculturation at work.