Growing Up in the Universe

Growing Up in the Universe was a series of lectures given by Richard Dawkins in the framework of the Conference of the Royal Institution Christmas, in which he talked about the evolution of life in the universe. The lectures were first broadcast in 1991, in the form of five one-hour episodes.

To begin the one hand, Dawkins explains the amazing capabilities of the human body and contrasts with the limited capabilities of computers and other machines made by man. He uses a small totem pole (used in ancestor worship) to illustrate the importance of studying our ancestors to understand how we evolved.

Dawkins’ second lecture series examines the design problem. It presents the public a series of simple objects such as rocks and crystals, and notes that these objects have been formed by simple laws of physics and therefore is not designed.
Dawkins begins the third conference that come with a walking stick in hand. He describes in detail how much a being imitates its surroundings, is almost like a key fits a lock. Below is another insect, ie, a leaf insect, which basically looks exactly like a dead leaf.
Dawkins begins the fourth conference to tell the story of a girl asking “I thought flowers ‘for’.” His answer is anthropocentric, that the flowers are there for our benefit. Dawkins says many people throughout history have thought that the natural world exists for our benefit, with examples from Genesis and other literature.

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