Nature & Nurture #143: Dr. Nicholas Christakis - The Evolution of Social Networks

Dr. Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, where he directs the Human Nature Lab. Dr. Christakis is an MD-PhD physician and sociologist known for applying social network analysis to the study of public health and the evolutionary psychology of cooperation. He is the author of several books including Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society.

In this episode Dr. Christakis and I discuss the methods of social network analysis, similarities and differences to game theory and population simulation research, and how cooperation and friendship co-evolved with social cognition. We discuss evolutionary explanations of modern day public health dilemmas including disease spread, obesity, loneliness, and internalizing disorders, as well as their development across the lifespan and cross-culturally.