David R. Samson

David R. Samson is an associate professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Toronto. He has worked with a range of primate species and studied sleep in different types of human societies. His work has been featured by the BBC, Time, the New York Times, The Smithsonian, and National Geographic. He is the author of Our Tribal Future.

a painting of a group of people riding horses.

The Past

Humanity solved the “trust paradox” by going tribal — and paid a horrific price

Evolutionary pressures drove the formation of tribes who encoded their values in myths and symbols. Was this cooperation cursed?