John Maynard Smith and Evolution

The John Maynard interview gave me an in depth overview of Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I had already understood the gist of Darwinism with survival of the fittest, where the species that evolve are able to survive and the ones that don't die out. Maynard gives a more detailed account, describing how certain species understand that they cannot completely follow the law of "survival of the fittest" where one must win while another loses. Certain species actually know to avoid conflict in order for their kind to not only survive, but also thrive. They know that in order to do this, their main cause should be in the production of offspring, instead of getting entangled with other species, which causes a risk of extinction.

One thing that was interesting was Smith's views on the human consciousness. He simply did not have an answer or explanation for it. He says that such a thing that gave us all our instincts was difficult to believe in, yet there was not evidence against it. He has a similar view on religion. I felt that he gave a good answer when asked about religion by saying that he would be an atheist, but since he couldn't prove religion wrong, he would rather be considered agnostic.

Another interesting point was when they started talking about the continuing evolution of humans. Considering that we have been constantly evolving since back when in the Neanderthal days, one can wonder if humans will develop into an even more advanced species sometime in the distant future.