Human Origins by Adam Rutherford

We like to think of ourselves as exceptional beings, but are we really any more special than other animals Humans are the slightest of twigs on a single family tree that encompasses four billion years, a lot of twists and turns, and a billion species. All of those organisms are rooted in a single origin, with a common code that underwrites our existence. This paradox that our biology is indistinct from all life, yet we consider ourselves to be special lies at the heart of who we are. This was also the paradox that lies at the heart of Darwins second magnum opus, The Descent of Man. In this lecture I will explore how many of the things once considered (including by Darwin) to be exclusively human are in fact not: we are not the only species that communicates, makes tools, utilises fire, or has sex for reasons other than to make new versions of ourselves. Evolution has, however, allowed us to develop our culture to a level of complexity that outstrips any other observed in nature, and it is the sha