Watch & Listen

Choose a topic area to explore or browse the featured stories below. Biological Evolution Language Tools & Technology Evolution of Ideas Sustainability Economy Health & Education Intercultural Understanding Discovering Our Distant Ancestors Watch: Spencer Wells takes us, as he says, on a journey that began “a long time ago [when] your family were on the brink of … Continue reading →

Privacy Policy

ISHK-Human Journey Privacy Policy Data protection is of a particularly high priority for the management of ISHK-Human Journey. The use of the Internet pages of ISHK-Human Journey is possible without any indication of personal data; however, if a data subject wants to use special enterprise services via our website, processing of personal data could become … Continue reading →

How Do We Maintain a Stable World?

Wassily Kandinsky, Animated Stability The achievement of the human mind is to create a sense of stability in a world where there is constant change. We evolved certain strategies to achieve this. Robert Ornstein, PhD; David Sobel, MD, MPH; and Sally MallamContributing Writers The content of this section, unless indicated, represents Robert Ornstein’s award-winning Psychology of Evolution … Continue reading →

Our Memory

“Memory’s machinery reconstructs events, whether they have happened or might happen. The brain ignores time’s boundaries.” Daphna Shohamy, PhD. Robert Ornstein, PhD; David Sobel, MD, MPH; and Sally MallamContributing Writers The content of this section, unless indicated, represents Robert Ornstein’s award-winning Psychology of Evolution Trilogy and Multimind. It is reproduced here by kind permission of the Estate of Robert … Continue reading →

Minoan “Palaces” and Religious Beliefs

In 1900, the famed archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans provided the first evidence of an extraordinary civilization. He named it Minoan, after the legendary King Minos, son of Zeus. By Sally MallamContributing Writer Using wet pigments requiring quick execution, the Minoans painted walls with great skill and fluid brush strokes, which in their hands accentuated the … Continue reading →

Polymaths of the Golden Age

The luminaries who contributed to the work of the House of Wisdom spoke several languages and were all polymaths, with their knowledge and abilities spanning many different fields. By Hafeez Diwan and Sally MallamContributing Writers A few are listed below, with links to videos where possible to give an idea of their accomplishments, individual approach and effect on … Continue reading →

Spiritual Foundations of Today

From 900–200 BCE a new mode of thinking developed almost simultaneously in four distinct areas of the world. In each area this was a time of change, social unrest, and political upheaval. People began to question their own beliefs once they came into contact with others whose beliefs were different. In the face of crisis … Continue reading →

Influence: Why Are We Susceptible to Influence?

“The advantage of such shortcut responding lies in its efficiency and economy; by reacting automatically to a normally informative trigger feature, an individual preserves crucial time, energy, and mental capacity. The disadvantage of such responding lies in its vulnerability to silly and costly mistakes.” Robert Cialdini David Sobel, MD, MPH, and Sally MallamContributing Writers As we’ve … Continue reading →

The Iberian Peninsula – Al-Andalus (750–1031)

“During the most splendid period of Islamic Spain, ignorance was regarded as so disgraceful that those without education concealed the fact as far as possible, just as they would have hidden the commission of a crime.“-S. P. Scott, “History of the Moorish Empire in Europe”, quoted in “The House of Wisdom” by Jim Al-Khalili By Hafeez Diwan and Sally MallamContributing Writers … Continue reading →

We Were Not Alone Until Recently

“The real way to understand human genetics and migration is to time travel, and that is what ancient DNA has enabled us to do.” Professor Dan Bradley, Trinity College, Dublin. Dr. Luca Cavalli-Sforza was a pioneer in using genetic information to trace human evolution, history and patterns of migration. He recognized the importance of synthesizing … Continue reading →

Tracking Human Movement Across the Globe

Prior to our ability to analyze ancient DNA (aDNA), we could only interpret ancient history from art and artefacts. Prior to our ability to analyze aDNA, we could only interpret ancient history from art and artefacts. This led anthropologists and historians to assume that the spread of ideas was the primary cause of change. Now … Continue reading →