In isolation, humans are peculiar; as a collective, we are prolific. Our brains have evolved incredible capacities to synthesise multi-modal information. But it is not what we do as individuals that set us apart in the animal kingdom – it is what we do together. Through most of human history, achievement has been limited by independent and individual cognition. Natural brains have natural biases, biologically evolved quirks, and limited memory. Knowledge died with individuals. Somewhere along...

In isolation, humans are peculiar; as a collective, we are prolific. Our brains have evolved incredible capacities to synthesise multi-modal information. But it is not what we do as individuals that set us apart in the animal kingdom – it is what we do together. Through most of human history, achievement has been limited by independent and individual cognition. Natural brains have natural biases, biologically evolved quirks, and limited memory. Knowledge died with individuals. Somewhere along...