Michael Muthukrishna

Muthukrishna's research addresses three main areas: The resulting "Theory of Human Behavior" informs various areas, including innovation, corruption, the emergence of large-scale cooperation, and cross-cultural navigation. ==Key contributions==

Cultural brain hypothesis Muthukrishna has played a pivotal role in the development and advancement of the cultural brain hypothesis. His research in 2018 involved the construction of a model that was firmly rooted in this hypothesis, shedding light on critical relationships among brain size, group size, social learning, and mating structures. Muthukrishna's work was instrumental in formulating this model, which operated based on three fundamental assumptions: • Combining brain size, complexity, and organization into a single variable • Establishing that a larger brain equates to a greater capacity for acquiring adaptive knowledge • Demonstrating that an increase in adaptive knowledge enhances the fitness of organisms Through evolutionary simulations, Muthukrishna and his colleagues were able to validate the existence of the hypothesized relationships. They argued that while individual intelligence is important, it is the rapid advancement of human culture, technology, and knowledge driven by culmulative efforts and knowledge. Muthukrisna provides context and a solution for this issue in a 2020 paper, where he introduces the concept of "cultural distance" and "psychological distance" as measures to quantify the differences between populations. Culturalytik's distinctive feature lies in its utilization of advanced methodologies to accurately identify and analyse culturally significant aspects. Muthukrishna and his team's primary objective was to recognize and safeguard vital elements of culture, aiming to optimize knowledge retention, stimulate innovation, enhance customer satisfaction, improve key performance indicators, and facilitate global expansion initiatives. ==Awards==

Muthukrishna has received a number of awards for his contribution to the field of behavioural science and cultural evolution: • 2016: PhD Dissertation Excellence Award, Canadian Psychological Association • 2016 CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award in the Social Sciences • 2021 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) • 2021 APS Rising Star, Association of Psychological Science (APS) • 2022 SAGE Emerging Scholar Award, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) • 2023 HBES Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution, Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) • 2023 HBES Rising Star Award, Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) ==Publications==

Books ''A Theory of Everyone: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going'' (ISBN 9781399810630) (2023) The book offers a multidisciplinary framework that delves into human behavior, culture, and society. • Muthukrishna, M., Bell, A.V., Henrich, J., Curtin, C.M., Gedranovich, A., McInerney, J. and Thue, B. (2020). Beyond Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) Psychology: Measuring and Mapping Scales of Cultural and Psychological Distance. Psychological Science, 31(6), p. 095679762091678. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620916782. • Muthukrishna, M. and Henrich, J. (2020). The Origins and Psychology of Human Cooperation. Annual Review of Psychology, 72(1). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-081920-042106. ==References==