Behavioural Psychologist: We're Not Having Enough Sex! Fat Makes You Attractive & The Poorer You Are The Friendlier You Are!

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Business, Education

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2025

⏱️ 117 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are we fighting against our own biology? Dr Bill von Hippel reveals how evolutionary psychology impacts love, success, and happiness. Dr Bill von Hippel is a renowned social psychologist, evolutionary specialist, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Queensland. He is the author of books such as, ‘The Social Leap: The New Evolutionary Science of Who We Are, Where We Come From, and What Makes Us Happy’. In this conversation, Dr Bill and Steven discuss topics such as, why high-achieving women struggle to find love, the top trait that makes you more attractive, the link between your wealth and social skills, and the future impact of falling birth rates. 00:00 Intro 02:21 What Does Dr. Von Hippel Do? 05:35 What Are We Getting Wrong as a Species? 09:01 Were Our Ancestors Happier Than Us? 12:45 Are We Forgetting to Be Grateful? 15:10 What Is the Price We Pay for Living in Cities? 17:07 Does Money Make You Happy? 18:03 What Is the Perfect Combination to Achieve Happiness? 20:56 How to Be Attractive 23:08 Why Is Humor an Attractive Trait? 24:11 Do Nice Guys Finish Last? 24:55 What Makes a Woman Attractive? 26:10 Is Attraction an Evolutionary or Social Construct? 27:22 Do Men Care If Women Are Rich? 29:09 Evolution and Homosexuality 31:40 The Economic Mismatch in Finding a Partner 34:52 What Tinder Tells Us About Matchmaking 37:06 What Are Dating Apps Like for Women? 39:59 What Is Pornography Doing to Us? 43:19 Are Populations Declining? 46:24 Are We at Risk of Extinction Due to Lack of Sex? 46:56 How Bill Would Encourage People to Have Children Again 49:11 Robots Raising Our Kids 52:44 Robot Experiments on Monkeys 53:27 Marriage and Happiness 56:33 Ads 57:28 Is There an Evolutionary Basis for ADHD and Neurodivergence? 59:57 Will There Be Less Neurodivergence With AI Development? 1:00:17 Will We Merge With Technology? 1:01:19 What Is the Evolutionary Basis for Depression and Anxiety? 1:02:53 Religion and Its Effect on Happiness 1:05:56 Why Do We Want to Believe in Something? 1:06:58 What Is the Meaning of Life? 1:10:07 How We Band Together in Tough Times Against Others 1:11:54 What Bill Knows About Power in Evolutionary Terms 1:12:53 What Is Powerful Body Language? 1:14:29 What Designer Brands Say About You 1:15:18 What Bill Learned About the Hadza Tribe and Living a Happy Life 1:17:06 Who Needs Each Other More, Men or Women? 1:19:06 Are We Meant to Be Monogamous? 1:20:22 Is Cheating Natural? 1:26:12 Ads 1:28:12 What's the Problem With Money? 1:30:53 The Benefits of Doing These 5 Things 1:34:04 What Is the Cost? 1:38:38 New Findings on Exercise and Unhealthy Habits 1:43:45 Do We All Need the Same Amount of Sleep? 1:48:44 Coffee's Impact on Our Bodies 1:49:12 How Can We Be More Social? 1:51:43 How Would You Save Humanity? Follow Dr Bill: Instagram - https://g2ul0.app.link/aLJcqJMR0Qb Twitter - https://x.com/BillvonHippel Research document: https://stevenbartlett.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DOAC-Bill-Von-Hippel-Independent-research-further-reading.pdf You can pre-order Dr Bill’s book, ‘The Social Paradox: Autonomy, Connection, and Why We Need Both to Find Happiness’, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/pRZgxqRR0Qb Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACEpisodes My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACBook You can purchase the The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards: Second Edition, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb Follow me: https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Sponsors: Shopify - https://shopify.com/bartlett WHOOP - https://JOIN.WHOOP.COM/CEO PerfectTed - https://www.perfectted.com with code DIARY40 for 40% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Do you believe the robots are going to raise our kids because it feels like a slippery slope?
0:03.4	Well, it's not too far away from us, and we never evolved to want children.
0:06.7	Look, fertility rates are going way down.
0:08.5	A lot of countries are going to be literally half their size by the year 2100 because they're shrinking so fast.
0:13.5	And the list is really long about how hard it is to raise the child in today's world.
0:17.1	So you want to make having kids to be as much of the plus as it possibly can be. And with the
0:22.1	perfect robot, Annie, you would never worry at all. Interesting. Dr. William von Heppel is the world-renowned
0:28.6	evolutionary psychologist who has spent decades studying and finding the answers to how instincts
0:32.9	that once helped our ancestors survive still drive us today, often in ways we don't even realize.
0:37.5	As a species, what are we getting wrong? Well, young people are having less sex than they were 20 years
0:41.9	ago. Marriage are steadily going down. And our lives are so much better, but we're not any happier.
0:46.5	And part of the problem is that we're constantly choosing to do our own thing rather than connect. So here's the data. In 1850, one in 100 of Americans lived alone.
0:54.9	Now it's one in seven.
0:56.0	In the 1970s, one in three people spent time
0:58.3	with their neighbors.
0:58.9	Now that's completely reversed.
1:00.1	Now, let's dive a little deeper.
1:01.7	50% of humanity now lives in the city.
1:03.9	And they're about 25% wealthier than people who live in the country.
1:06.8	And yet, the data shows people in the country are happier because cities are all about I want to do what I want.
1:11.5	And the problem is that we can't introduce social connection into our life willy-nilly or we won't keep it up.
1:15.9	So what do we do about that?
	...

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