Paul Turke is a physician and evolutionary biologist. He’s a pioneer in evolutionary medicine and has written widely on parenting, cooperation, and how evolutionary theory reshapes how we think about human health and behavior, follow Paul on Twitter
We talk about how modern lifestyles diverge from ancestral ones, how kin networks shaped child development, why evolution still matters in medicine, and what it means to parent well in a mismatched world. Topics are outlined in the timestamps below.
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Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
02:37 – Working with Randy Nesse and framing sickness evolutionarily
05:15 – How childrearing worked in ancestral environments
07:53 – The hidden role of kin in development
10:31 – What modern families are missing
13:09 – Antibiotic resistance and selection pressure
15:47 – Mismatch theory and chronic disease
18:25 – Are modern immune systems overreacting?
21:03 – Exposure, allergens, and immune calibration
23:41 – Evolutionary roots of emotion
26:18 – Emotions as adaptations for coordination
28:56 – Phones, feedback loops, and behavioral hijacking
31:20 – The smoke detector principle and anxiety
34:12 – Adolescence and the modern identity crisis
36:50 – Monitoring, tech, and tribal perception
39:28 – Genetics, ethics, and the future of parenting
42:06 – Why aging exists from an evolutionary view
44:44 – What med school misses about human nature
47:22 – Final thoughts on bringing evolution into healthcare
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