Josh Berson

Josh Berson is an independent social scientist whose work integrates anthropology, history, philosophy, and cognitive science. Trained as a historian, anthropologist, and philosopher with a focus on the historical dynamics of practical knowledge, Berson’s earlier career in computer science continues to inform his approach. He earned an A.B. in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Berson’s research explores the role of social and cognitive science in shaping understandings of what it means to be human, combining cognitive anthropology with science and technology studies. His work examines how individuals negotiate boundaries among self, other, and environment, and how categories such as human versus animal and living thing versus machine are constructed.

Berson has held appointments at institutions including two Max Planck Institutes—Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and the History of Science—the Berggruen Institute, where he served as inaugural USC Berggruen Fellow in the Transformations of the Human, the Wellcome Hub, and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. He led the computational social science strand of Hubbub, a Wellcome-funded research initiative focused on emerging practices surrounding rest and busyness.

Berson is the author of three books on the deep history of human behavior and its implications for society. "Computable Bodies: Instrumented Life and the Human Somatic Niche" was the first book-length investigation of self-experimentation strategies associated with movements such as the Quantified Self, polyphasic sleeping, and Paleolithic nutrition. The book received the PROSE Award in Language and Linguistics. His next book, "The Meat Question: Animals, Humans, and the Deep History of Food," argues that eating meat is not what made humans human and that the future is not necessarily carnivorous. The book was recognized by Choice for its thorough and compelling rebuttal of the argument that meat consumption is central to human existence.

In "The Human Scaffold: How Not to Design Your Way Out of a Climate Crisis," Berson contends that addressing global challenges requires rethinking the role of physical materials in civilization’s history and future. Drawing on niche construction, evolutionary game theory, and the enactive view of cognition, he examines archaeological cases of adaptation where conventional technology was minimal, suggesting these cases exemplify enduring features of human behavior relevant to contemporary issues. Gillian Tett of Financial Times described the book as fascinating, highlighting the importance of social, emotional, and biological patterns alongside material goods. Berson’s writing on the history and future of food, clothing, space, and consciousness has appeared in publications including Aeon and 032c.