02:11
Natural Selection and Differential Reproduction
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about differential reproduction, which he says is the key idea of natural selection. With differential reproduction, some copies of the original are a little less perfect than others. Those that are less perfect tend...
01:51
Charles Darwin and the Problem of Continuity
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about the Darcy Thompson statement that "everything is the way it is because it got that way." Calling that a very fundamental Darwinian idea, Professor Dennett explains that it means everything either was something ...
01:52
Natural Selection and Distant Ancestors
Philosopher Daniel Dennett talks about the conventional wisdom before Darwin that species were fixed eternally. With Darwin came the notion that species that may be very different now have a common ancestor from the very distant past.