What makes us human? Is war an inevitable part of the human condition? These are some of the questions that anthropologist Augustín Fuentes explores in his new book, The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional. Harnessing the latest findings in evolution, biology, and archaeology he creates a new synthesis to show that the great drivers of human progress have been creativity and cooperation, and that many of the things we believe about ourselves, from religion to race, are wrong.

When National Geographic caught up with the author at his office at Notre Dame University in Indiana he explained why dogs really are man’s best friends, why the evolutionary record does not support traditional notions of gender, marriage, and