Richard Dawkins: Growing Up in the Universe - Designed and Designoid Objects

In the first episode of this lecture series (Waking Up in the Universe), we saw Dawkins awaken his audience to the wonder and the mystery surrounding us everywhere. Today's lecture reveals the absolutely brilliant and subtle insight behind Darwin's discovery of the process of evolution through natural selection and the empirical proof he provided to support Hume's objections to the idea of intelligent design: the appearance of conscious and deliberate design in nature can only be rationally explained through a cumulative and gradual process that starts with simplicity. To explain complexity through an intelligent designer begs the question, since it leaves unanswered the embarrassing question of the infinitely greater complexity of such a being.

Instead of relying on high-minded philosophical reasoning, awesome as it is, Dawkins explains these wonderful insights to the lucky children attending this Faraday lecture through the use of a great number of intelligently designed examples :) from the natural world and computer models.

Squeeze... what a perfect name!

Click here to see the full set of lecture series.