[~52,000BC] The Eyed Needle: The History of Clothes, Fashion, Beauty and Status Games

How humanity invented clothes. In the process, accidentally warping our psychology, sparking civilization, and changing what it means to be human forever.

A fish doesn’t know it’s wet, and a human doesn’t know they are hiding. But every morning, you participate in a ritual that separates you from nature, and your own biology.

For 90% of human history, we were naked. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, we decided to cover up. This episode of How to Change the World challenges the standard narrative of invention stories.

We’ll explore:

• Side effects: The invention of the needle to stitch leather went on to stitch the fabric of human civilization
• Mental models: how one idea change the psychology of privacy, shame, and status
• The Algorithm of Desire: How ancient fashion trends set the rules for modern attraction and power dynamics.

Join the deep dive into the psychology of change and the invisible lines that define our future society.

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ABOUT

How to Change the World is an independent podcast on a mission to document the entire history of innovation. One world-changing event at a time. In the process we are building out frameworks and mental models to think more coherently about global change.

Written, edited, recorded, and produced by Sam Webster Harris.

🤓 Website: ChangeTheWorldPod.com

🤗 Join the Patreon: Patreon.com/ChangeTheWorldPod

Help from:

👩‍🎨 Design - Francisca Correia (available to hire)

🧙‍♂️ Mentorship - Jeremy Enns (available to hire)

Resources

Climate, Clothing and Agriculture in Prehistory - Ian Gilligan

A complete account of the development of clothing, from Cambridge University Press.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Naked Dreams

01:38 Welcome

03:50 1 - FIRST CLOTHES

03:50 Genesis

07:00 Naked Ape vs. The Ice Age

09:13 Foot bags

10:40 Tanning a hide

13:03 Lice and Permanent Clothing

18:49 The Eyed Needle

21:49 2 - PSYCHOLOGY REVOLUTION

21:49 Privacy

23:26 Modesty, Shame and Maturity

27:45 Fashion and Mammoth Beads

29:34 Beauty, Biology and Culture

31:12 Culture

32:04 3 - EXTERNALISING ENCLOSURE

33:40 Textiles and Weaving

34:19 Farming Clothes

35:18 Birth Control And Population Growth

37:21 New Religions

38:52 Shoe Technology

40:37 Enclosure Thesis

42:39 4 - PHILOSOPHY OF CLOTHES

42:39 The Cost of Beauty

43:38 Belladona - eye poisoning

44:45 Status beauty - skin and teeth

46:30 Chinese feet binding

49:22 Modern trends and surgeries

51:09 Algorithm of Desire

52:28 What clothing means today

56:32 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A HUMAN?

58:13 The evolution of nakedness

01:00:50 Become a member

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