Did humans evolve from monkeys or from fish? In this enlightening talk, ichthyologist and TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty dispels some hardwired myths about evolution, encouraging us to remember that we're a small part of a complex, four-billion-year process — and not the end of the line. "We're not the goal of evolution," Chakrabarty says. "Think of us all as young leaves on this ancient and gigantic tree of life — connected by invisible branches not just to each other, but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors."
Check out more TED Talks:
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more.
Follow TED on Twitter:
Like TED on Facebook:
Subscribe to our channel:
Wow, im evolution.
Let’s be honest, you’re only a product of evolution.
Triggered Christians incoming
I love the way people post comments just to start fights. Its like, instead of arguing with what people are saying you just tell them what they believe based on some South Park pastiche and then call them triggered for not being as smart as you, which is hilarious since what you’re typing is barely readable (I’m looking at you Stretch ;))
trinity343 Humans are so selfish. Sure, god created and planned you and wants to have an intimate relationship just with you. The one species out of millions on one single planet among billions of billions of others.
Sokrates
No, He planned everything, and thinks all of creation is good.
Humans are unique in that they were made with free will and rational choice over their actions, which means they can sin.
And people don’t just take stories as fact. We rely on historical events of revelation, rationality, community, and prayer of our own to discover more about God.
trinity343 – It seems you’re saying a man wrote Genesis 1-2. On that we agree. Along with the rest of the Bible right?
Also, why did God take 4.5 billion years to create us? Why 4.5 billion years of struggle and death, just to create one target species? Sounds like nonsense to me.
Samuel Underwood – the doctrine of creationism has been around for much longer than Darwin’s theory of evolution (1800s). Theologians have know for thousands of years that the bible was to be taken as it was written; some literal, some not, some symbolic, some poetry, etc. Much of the bible is definitely literal. I understand that those who don’t study the bible would really have no way of knowing.
2:46 “Misunderstanding it has led to many convoluted and corrupted views of how we should treat other life on earth, and how we should treat each other in terms of race and gender.”
No one calling SJW politicaly correctness propaganda like the last video uploaded? no one?
Edit: Great video BTW
Sorry i don’t get what you are saying completly… For what i understand you are saying that you responded to a comment whitout actauly reading it, by writing something that you didn’t bother to check if it was true?
And anyway i still don’t get what you meant whit the “SJW PROPAGANDA FAKE NEWS FUCKING LEFTY SNOWFLAKES”. Was that directed to me or what?
blue_tetris yeah i know the “new right”(?) as you call it show an insane level of hypocrisy some times, not that the “new left” (letz call it this way for PC becouse why not :3) isn’t hypocrite some times too. But i am gonna argue that is more about perception of hypocrisy for the left, becouse is a while that i am around and i still don’t realy see all this sjw feminazi propaganda everywhere that everybody talks about. I see only people jump like crazy at the first sign of something that could remotly apears to look like something that a feminazi will actualy say
Alice Leoni only if it applies
Wait……….. What? so you just lay out insult before in case you need them?
Those graphics are great, I think they’ll help a lot of people who haven’t understood previously.
Yeah, I really liked the part when he showed the “tree of life” with the invisible branches
I thought we evolved from beetles. Something about “evolution #9”.
James Jumper
Aha….
what?
James Jumper Maybe we should all Get Back to the sea
Ringo or George?
Sean Hardy
Beatles music joke. Song “Revolution number 9”
Just not a convincing theory.
If evolution = funky finches, weiner dogs/Mastiffs, and other such cool stuff I can see, then yeah, cool.
If evolution = way back when, the FIRST cell, a living tiny thing composed of thousands of finely-calibrated machine parts enclosed by a membrane that has to be made by thousands of machines parts, came into existence and came to life by the power of chemistry and physics.
Then, nah.
First of all, evolution says nothing about how life started. That field of science is called abiogenesis. Second, no one has suggested that the first cell that could be called living was nearly as advanced as the single celled life we see today. Only creationists will insist that it was, to make it look less plausible.
the building blocks for the tiny machines that make the tiny machines have been found naturally occurring through chemical mishmash, considering how long it took for anything to be “alive” its not unreasonable to think that a self replicating cell formed
Its not convincing if you dont want to understamd it and educate yourself, what else do you expect. A child who uses google is smarter than you.
Mark Smith: So your argument is “because I can’t understand it,, it must be wrong?”
Why should we listen to you over nearly 100% of qualified scientists?
” fishes….”
That’s correct plural for many different types of fish.
Sumsum Bezuidenhoudt Yup, you’re an idiot.
I think the proper term for a school of fish is a scho.. wait..
so i’m a fish that consumes a fish #Strange
If we evolved from fish, why are there still fish?
Muwhaha. This was to easy. Next.
I’m actually not an easiest (atheist) whatever that is.
I’m someone who spent way to much time pondering the existence of God. Guess what? I found him where you’d least expect. Except I’m not telling. lol
Tis a journey not for the faint of heart and one must go it alone. Only then will you discover the essence of God.
I think we are all aliens, plot twist. lol
We evolved from the essence of evolution itself. Argue against that.
ali99_ Pretty sure you don’t understand the concept of natural selection i.e. evolution. It results from divergence of population. The base population itself doesn’t go extinct. A more recent example can be: why are there still wolves, when they should have all become dogs.
Asking why there are still fish is like saying, if some Americans and Australians came from British people, then why are there still British people?
Next.
I was making an analogy, it wasn’t literal. Reproduction is the main mechanism of evolution, each new generation is different from its parents in subtle ways, and the constraints of the environment affect which individuals survive.
It is annoying to explain things with actual evidence only to have people not interested in learning or discussion to make a strawman and never address any criticism or ideas with a real argument.
Far too many Americans care nothing about science or reason. It’s not bad teaching of evolution, but faith-based unthinking followers who submit to authority without concern for reality.
Home Wall – So not Americans, but the hyper-religious?
A lot of comments like this supposedly calling people out for evading truth and reason which is incredibly ironic since they all base their claims on the assumption that Americans and Christians are in large part creationists. There are a miniscule number of creationists out there and certainly not enough to be generalised as a large portion of Americans or Christians. I’veed in a hyper religious society for my entire life and I’ve never met a single creationist and I’m not an exception. So if you’re seeking the truth, maybe observe instead of assume.
Not impressed. Bare Naked Ladies can cover the history of the entire cosmos in a minute and a half.
People take this idea as an affront to their identity, and so they don’t give it a fair chance. Without religious bias, people could see the true wonder of life and evolution
*L I E S*
Vahid M:
I grew up in the church, and EVERYTHING they told me was a lie.
Vahid,,, Your problem is that you believe in all the standard christian lies.
The same lies they told me growing up in the church as the minister’s son.
#1 Lie, god is good and loves us.
#2, god gave us free will.
#3, god sacrifice his son/himself to save mankind.
#4, There is plenty of historical evidence to confirm that jesus was real and all bible scholars agree he lived.
#5, There are hundreds of bible prophecy that have come true, too many not to be the word of god.
#6, You can’t be moral without a god.
#7 The bible is the eyewitness accounts of the events of jesus and is without error.
#8. Slavery in the bible is not the same as slavery of the 1800s here in America.
#9. You can’t trust science on the parts where it conflicts with the bible.
#10. America was founded as a christian nation.
All of these things were told to me and every single one is a lie and I can prove it to you.
Pick one.
Why are you are unable to distinguish magical stories from ancient primitive ignorant genocidal goat herders from today’s reality?
itsasin1969 I’m not the original poster but since you’re cocky enough to presume you know what all Christian’s think and why we’re all wrong, you said pick any one so I pick ‘#3 god gave us free will’. I’m interested to see how you know the answer to one of the greatest unanswered philosophical questions of all time.
itsasin1969 Saying that the Bible is the final truth, ignoring ALL the others religious books and historic facts that FOLLOW LOGIC
itsasin1969 Everything you just said is the same that all other ignorant religious fanatics would repeat, over and over avain, dodging all the facts and being the “follower of the true God”
The 135 Joker: “so I pick ‘#3 god gave us free will’.”
I have found that religious fanatics will lie, cheat and steal for their beliefs, and if you complain about it they pull out the victim card and say you are persecuting them.
The bible is very clear that there is no god given free will.
It’s just that Christians need to lie about how evil their god is so they automatically blurt out “FREE WILL” and hope nobody looks it up. An all-powerful god could eliminate evil without disrupting free will. If not, we have found something he cannot do. Thus,he is not all-powerful. Game over.
Nowhere in the bible does it say anything about free will. The reason god given free will is bullshit is because christians believe that god is all powerful, all knowing, the creator of the universe who made all the rules and has perfect knowledge of the future.
“The Lord has made everything for his own ends, even the wicked for the evil day, Proverbs 16:4.Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. [God even determines our very steps!] Proverbs 16:4 The LORD works out everything to its proper end. [Not just some things…”EVERYTHING.”]
Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
Proverbs 20:24 A person’s steps are directed by the LORD.
& I the Lord make evil , Isaiah 47,7.
God has a plan, Jeremiah 29:11. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.Nobody can change his mind, Proverbs 19:21.
No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them first (John 6:44).
Makes all the rules , Exodus 24:12>13.
Made the flaws in people, Psalm 139:12,
Can do anything, Mark 10:27.
Knows the future, Isaiah 46:9>10.
Acts 13:48 and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. [Those who come to believe in God were appointed to do so.]
“The Bible repeatedly claims to be God’s word. See 1 Corinthians14:37; 2:10-13; Ephesians 3:3-5; John 16:13; Matthew 10:19,20; Galatians 1:8-12; 2 Peter 1:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy3:16,17; Luke 10:16.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,Ephesians 1:11,
You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16)
And those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those He justified He also glorified.” (Rom. 8:20)
If god had the power to make any universe he wanted and knew everything from the start to end, then you CAN NOT have all those things and god given free will.
More bible study on free will.
• Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. [God even determines our very steps!]
• Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
• Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
• Proverbs 20:24 A person’s steps are directed by the LORD.
• John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them. [That means only God decides who will be saved and who won’t.]
• Acts 13:48 and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. [Those who come to believe in God were appointed to do so.]
• Romans 8:7-8 Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
• Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.
• Romans 9:19-21 “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’ On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”
• Ephesians 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
• Jeremiah 10:23 LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.
• Jeremiah 43:11 He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
• Isaiah 14:27 For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
• Isaiah 37:26 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass.
• Amos 3:6 Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? [People don’t cause disaster unless God makes them do it.]
• Job 42:1-2 Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
• Psalm 37:23 A man’s steps are established by the LORD, and the LORD delights in his way. [Only an evil God would delight in establishing a man’s steps to take the wrong path.]
• Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16)
“Moreover the Lord God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God…” (Deut. 30:6)
“I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord…” (Jer. 24:7)
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Heb. 12:2)
“And those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those He justified He also glorified.” (Rom. 8:20)
“For I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will continue to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezek. 36:26)
And just as God is sovereign over salvation, He is also sovereign over damnation:
“then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,” (2 Pet. 2:9)
“But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Pet. 3:7)
“While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)
So you see,, I don’t care about “what all christions think”,, I just care about what the bible says.
If you value your braincells, dont go further down into the comments.
big guy too late D:
So many people are in denial. It’s plainly true but only if you look at the evidence and understand what scientists are saying without any political misinterpretation. That said, this TED talk actually wasn’t remotely long enough or detailed enough to present the evidence.
Doodelay Explains – evidence and reason vs. religion??
You can’t talk sense into one that relies solely on the Bible (or any religious book) for their facts and information.
Logan B yea but most people don’t rely on JUST religion even if they are religious
*Finally AN APPROPRIATE EXPLANATION!!!!*
Pokemon is proof of evolution
It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s how Worf thought it actually worked.
DEATH TO THE OPPOSITION!
Waste of time. He said exactly nothing new. We evolved from fish! I knew that 30 years ago.
If you look around in the comments you’ll probably see that quite a few people don’t know any of this, lol.
Mozilla Firefox still no excuse for wasting time on that stage. I Litteraly could have improved that entire speech when I was in elementary school. Ted talks have been really hit and miss lately.
Yeah ted should not be elementary school 2.0, they gained their popularity by teaching original and unknown stuff, and not by teaching monkeys some basic knowledge
May I pop your bubble ?
nothing new he said… I learned this in school 25 years ago…