For all that Darwin contributed to our understanding of the biological world, he was haunted by one vexing question: How does the incremental process of evolution suddenly produce, say, humans—animals who walk upright, communicate through language, and possess the brainpower to travel to the moon? In this program, some of the world's leading thinkers in anthropology, linguistics, biology, and philosophy tackle this conundrum.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for all the latest from WSF.
Visit our Website: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldsciencefestival
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldSciFest

Original Program Date: May 29, 2015
Host: Brian Lehrer
PARTICIPANTS: Lee Berger, Paul Bingham, Dean Falk, Steven Pinker

This program opened with an excerpt from the hit show “Robot,” from choreographer/filmmaker Blanca Li.

Blanca Li and her dancing robot 00:00

Brian Lehrer Introduction. 04:13

Participant Introductions 06:38

Dean Falk and Baby the Trend Setter 08:18

Steven Pinker and The Cognitive Niche 18:36

Paul bingham and The Social Coercion Theory 29:54

Lee Berger and human uniqueness and the biological origins of humans 46:44

Is the discussion of Human uniqueness important? 58:34

Why did the development of written language cause humans to present the natural order of the species as patriarchal? 01:05:41

Humans are the most peaceful mammals on the planet? 01:08:24

At what point does your accumulation of knowledge hit the barrier on ones cognitive abilities? 01:12:39

Is there a practical application for all of this? 01:14:09