The Story of Us

Synopsis: The creator of the wildly popular blog Wait But Why explores the origins of human tribalism using science, history, and badly drawn comics--and proposes a better way for us all to get along.

There's a concerning trend happening in the modern world right now: we're becoming more polarized, more tribal, worse at cooperating, and worse at communicating. Or, said more succinctly, if modern society is like a human, that human seems to be getting younger and less mature each year that goes by. To make matters worse, any attempt at fixing our fractured society is labeled as radioactive. How did we get here, and why is it so hard to talk to each other about these issues?

Tim Urban, the mind behind the popular blog Wait But Why, has spent years pondering this conundrum, and he's come to believe that the problems we face today, and their underlying causes, aren't actually that mysterious. The problem is that the language we use to talk about society is outdated and loaded with polarizing baggage--if we can't think and talk clearly about our minds, our communities, and our societies, then we can't solve our problems. In The Story of Us, Urban forges a way through this impasse via a bold new language--full of new terms, enlightening graphs, and hilarious comics--that can help us think and talk better about who we are and what ails us.

A masterclass in scientific clarity and humor, The Story of Us helps untangle our tribal, Us versus Them instincts from those that encourage us to be more collaborative and open-minded, revealing the tools we'll need to build a more peaceful future.