The Monkey Dance

A5 | The evolution of cooperation

Cooperation is deeply embedded in the genetics of our species. Looking at the evolution of cooperation can teach us a lot about how to build better societies. Given the state of the world, this episode with Nikhil Chaudhary from February 2024 is more relevant than ever.
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What can evolutionary anthropology teach us about ourselves? We sit down with Nikhil Chaudhary and chat about everything from the formation of the self to societal pressures. We cover cooperation and collaboration, hunter-gatherer societies, how to think about thinking, managing uncertainty, cultural narratives, and everything in between.
 
Show notes on the website!

A6 | Can we hold AI accountable for its actions?

With AI increasingly being used in wars, the glaring question regulators face as a society is one of allocating responsibility when an autonomous tool of war commits a war crime.
 
Little progress has been made on this front over the past few years despite the increased military applications of AI. That's why I wanted to repost the Episode 6, from our archive, with Pelin Kasar:
 
Who is responsible for the actions of machines? We chat with Pelin Kasar about the current state of philosophical debates around how to approach the ethical considerations of machines that seem to think.
 
More show notes on the Monkey Dance Website

44 | Voting under autocracies

When living under an autocratic regime, should we continue voting or abstain in protest?
 
Zoltan Miklosi joins the podcast to talk about the political obligations of democrats who live under autocratic regimes. We discuss the consequences both of voting in elections despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the autocrat and of refusing to participate in elections in protest of the regime.
 
We discuss specific cases of autocracies which hold elections around the world, about why they would hold elections in the first place, and what each side has to gain and to lose. We also chat about democracy as an ideal more broadly, and whether one has any obligations to the society or governance structure they live under.
 
Guest: Zoltan Miklosi
 
More from Zoltan:
1. Political Obligation in Electoral Authoritarianism: The Case of Hungary
 
2. Social Equality and Democratic Authority

43 | What makes a war?

What determines whether a particular event is classified as part of an existing conflict or a random act of violence?
Niraj Kushwaha joins the podcast to talk about modeling instances of armed conflict using fine grained datasets to better understand the emergence of conflicts and how they might be related.
We discuss how conflicts can be categorized into three main types, and the primary variables that allow for their categorization. This takes us to the broader applications of this work, from modeling epidemics to climate change, and how statistical physics can be used to form hypotheses about the likelihood of future events of particular types.
 
Guest: Niraj Kushwaha
 
Niraj's latest paper on Data-driven conflict classification
The database Niraj mentioned: Armed Conflict & Event Data Project

A4 | Does fairness exist?

Can any interaction between two people ever really be fair?
 
In this episode from February 2024, we sit down with Angarika Deb to chat about how to understand fairness, and what it means in relation to equality, equity, and justice. We end up covering a wide range of topics that fairness implicates, from gendered divisions of labor and resource distribution, to political movements and social justice.
 
Guest: Angarika Deb
 
Visit the Monkey Dance Website for show notes

42 | Who deserves human rights?

Every human has the same fundamental rights. That might sound trivial, but the universal access to human rights is being actively debated in courts around the world as well as in public and political discourse.
 
Lena Riemer joins the podcast to talk about the legal basis for granting every human being the same fundamental rights, how this applies to cases of migration, and her experiences both as a lawyer and as a legal scholar.
 
We chat about how human rights are being eroded and circumvented by policies, how some governments are actively working to obfuscate violations of human rights law, and the dehumanization of individuals who are forced to migrate from their homes due to some combination of conflict and climate change.
 
As a heads up, this conversation gets emotionally trying at times given the subject matter.
 
 
You can also watch the episode on our youtube channel
 
If you want to read more of Lena's work and on the topic in general:
 
1. Lena's blog post on recent jurisprudence on climate change and human mobility and advancements in front of the Inter-American Court of human Rights: Leading the Way: The IACtHR's Advisory Opinion on Human Rights and Climate Change
 
2. Lena's blog post on the US expulsion policy: Beyond Borders, Beyond Rights? The U.S. “Staging Expulsion” Policy and the Future of Externalization - Opinio Juris
 
3. Lena's blog post on Germany's attempts to undermine Asylum protections: Undermining Asylum Protection Through Administrative Shortcuts: Germany’s Proposal to Designate Safe Countries of Origin by Executive Decree. 
 
4. An article from the ACLU on the state of the US border: The Border Patrol Was Monstrous Under Obama. Imagine How Bad It Is Under Trump. | ACLU
 
5. The referenced American Convention on Human Rights

41 | Gangs providing services

What happens when gangs step in to provide services for communities that governments aren't able or willing to provide?
David Cerero Guerra joins the podcast to talk about his ethnographic work chronicling the equilibrium local gangs have reached with the government of Colombia in the city of Medellin. 
While the primary activity of the gangs is selling illicit drugs which harm the community, they also have managed to ensure the reduction of physical violence and facilitate government services like water and electricity to under served communities. 
We chat about the historical and political contexts which allowed for the emergence of such a unique unspoken agreement, and how the government communicates with the gangs without any official channels. 
Guest: David Cerero Guerra
You can also watch the episode on youtube
 

40 | Where does morality come from?

We refer to morality a lot when judging behavior, but what exactly are we referring to?
 
Emese Havadtői joins us to talk about the structure and emergence of moral frameworks. We chat about whether morality can be understood in terms of behavior, without a universalist understanding of morality, and how evolution plays a role in our drive to behave morally. The debate also brushes up against what it means to be "good" and whether it is understood by looking at individual behavior or if it exists as a truth in the universe.
 
Guest: Emese Havadtői
Cohost: Maria Federova
 
You can also watch the conversation on youtube

39 | How to make a curious mind

What is the brain's relationship to information?
 
Francesco Poli joins to talk about the brain, the mind, and the individual differences that amount to human curiosity.
We talk about adaptivity, how our experiences shape our relationship to information, and what this means for our behavior. We also cover the value of information, dealing with uncertainty as a concept, and the importance of a good learning environment.
 
Guest: Francesco Poli
 
You can also watch the conversation on youtube
 

38 | How do we change norms?

How do we choose which norms to follow? And how do we change them for a more equitable society?
 
Camilo Martinez joins to talk about how we learn, communicate, and enforce social norms. We also chat about the historical trajectory of norms, how norms have evolved as society has, and when we can overthrow prejudiced norms which seek to marginalize groups.
 
Guest: Camilo Martinez
Cohost: Pelin Kasar
To catch more of Pelin, check out Episode 6, Episode 28, Episode 32.
 
You can also watch the podcast on youtube.