The Gambling Animal

Humanity's unique relationship with risk has driven us to defy the evolutionary odds - but as the stakes keep mounting, how long will our winning streak continue?

Evolution is a series of bets and no animal gambles the way humans do. This has led us to unprecedented ecological dominance, via the steepest odds and unlikeliest of outcomes. But our winning streak cuts both ways: the secret to our success may yet be our downfall. Ever since evolution accelerated our species away from all other living things on earth, we have existed outside our evolutionary comfort zone. This allowed us to continue moving into new ecological niches, and eventually take over the world. But it also bred a whole host of ills. Join economists Don Ross and Glenn Harrison for a profoundly unsettling account of human exceptionalism, and a revelatory retelling of the human story. Drawing on their own research into the risk psychology of humans and other animals - including our most impressive rivals, elephants - they reveal the hidden logic of our rise. Even before the dawn of civilisation, we bet the Earth on our ability to keep doubling down. It is time we finally understood the odds.