🎙️Beyond The Naked Ape - The Deeper Thinking Podcast

Beyond the Naked Ape: Evolution, Identity, and the Post-Human Horizon

The Deeper Thinking Podcast

For those questioning what it means to be human in a world where biology, technology, and culture collide.

What if evolution is no longer something that happens to us—but something we now design? Our species was shaped by natural selection and cultural drift. But in the age of gene editing, algorithmic identity, and cognitive augmentation, are we still human in any sense our ancestors would recognize?

Drawing on Desmond Morris’s classic The Naked Ape, this episode examines whether we are truly evolving—or merely modifying ourselves into something else entirely. With nods to Harari, Nietzsche, and Haraway, we explore the possibilities and perils of redesigning our minds, bodies, and collective futures.

In a time when identity is fluid, enhancement is possible, and consciousness is being coded, this episode asks: Are we becoming more than human—or just amplifying our oldest instincts under the guise of progress?

Reflections

Here are some of the questions explored in this episode:

• Are we replacing evolution with engineering—and at what cost?
• Is tribalism disappearing, or just reprogrammed into digital life?
• If machines can think, feel, and learn—what remains distinct about us?
• Does intelligence without limits mean humanity without essence?
• Are we freeing ourselves from nature, or deepening the illusion of control?
• When access to enhancement becomes unequal, does evolution become elitism?

Why Listen?

• Challenge assumptions about human identity and evolution
• Explore the ethics of redesigning the human condition
• Understand the intersections between AI, biotechnology, and post-human philosophy
• Engage with Morris, Harari, Nietzsche, and Haraway on what it means to outgrow—or mutate—our evolutionary past

Listen On:

• YouTube
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

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Bibliography

• Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape. Delta, 1967.
• Harari, Yuval Noah. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. Harper, 2017.
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Penguin Classics, 1978.
• Haraway, Donna. A Cyborg Manifesto. Routledge, 1991.

Bibliography Relevance

• Desmond Morris: Frames the human as biological—a primate in modern clothes.
• Yuval Noah Harari: Argues that AI and biotech may soon render us irrelevant.
• Friedrich Nietzsche: Envisions the overcoming of humanity through radical self-becoming.
• Donna Haraway: Dismantles binary identity and redefines what it means to be human in a machine-infused age.

Are we evolving beyond biology—or just rehearsing our ancient instincts in silicon skin?

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