Evolution is the concept that makes biology unique. In his new theories of human development, he brings together history and biology in presenting a global account of the rise of civilization. In so doing he takes on race-based theories of human development. In parts of the world so called educated, so-called western society we've learned that it is not polite to be racist, and so often we don't express racist views, but nevertheless I've given lectures on this subject, and members of the National Academy of Sciences come up to me afterwards and say, but native Australians, they're so primitive. Racism is one of the big issues in the world today.
Racism is the big social problem in the United States.
According to Jared, racism involves the belief that other people are not capable of being educated. Or being human that they're different from us, and they're less than human. It was through his work in New Guinea for the last 30 years that convinced him that it's not true. But perhaps the main reason why people resort to racist explanations, he notes, is that they don't have another answer. Until there's a convincing answer why history really took the course that it did, people are going to fall back on the racist explanation.